The director of einekleine theatre is Katy Darby.

Upcoming Shows

Beauty and the Bitch

What are they?

Beauty and the Bitch are what happens when music and maladjustment mingle, when Sunset Boulevard meets Spïnal Tap in a karaoke bar. Weeping yet? You will be. Raised on a musical diet of Tom Lehrer, Kit and the Widow and Bill Bailey, Beauty and the Bitch were phonetically engineered to be expert purveyors of audio-fellatio to the discerning cynic. The ties that bind these two alarming misfits are mutual fear, distrust and debt, not to mention a plethora of songs with titles like these ...

If I Were Gay (And You Weren't Dead)
Only Happy When She Fails
It's Hard to Be An American (But At Least I Know I'm Free)
Once More, With Feline!

click above to visit the official site

Listings information

www.beautyandbitch.co.uk (show site) www.theatre.einekleine.com (company site)

Further information, photographs and sound files/music CDs are available from Beren Money (Director) on 07958 328 416 or Katy Darby (Performer) on 07808 939 535 / email address info@beautyandbitch.co.uk. Also available from C Venues press office on 020 8452 2550 (from July 0131 624 1550) / press@cvenues.com

What do they do?

Their show is a caustic combination of cabaret and character comedy, playing nightly below the decadently funky Oxygen Bar, five minutes from the Royal Mile. There you can sip a lethal cocktail by candlelight as Beauty and the Bitch conjure with the conventions of camp and fondle your funnybone. After being entertained by songs about amnesiac sex, karaoke, eating disorders, 80s movies, schadenfreude and beards, you'll need a stiff one.

Who are they?

Force-fed innuendo, satire and puns from a worryingly early age; delusional, jaded, exhibitionist and smutty, Beauty and the Bitch are artistes who truly exemplify all the finest qualities of cabaret. Dave Key-Pugh (keyboard, vocals) and Katy Darby (vocals, glamour), on the other hand, are a perfectly nice, sane pair of actors who met at Oxford - although they don't let that hold them back - and write original comic songs. Since 2002 they have wowed audiences at the Battersea Barge, Poetry Café, White Bear Theatre and Asylum Club.

Press quotes

"Well-aimed parody" (Evening Standard)
"Fabulous ... magnificently filthy ... hilarious" (Fringe Report)
"Dave Key-Pugh boasts the kinky jollity of a young Stephen Fry" (Evening Standard)

Production company

einekleine theatre company's debut production Dancing Bears was a Time Out Critics' Choice in 2001. Dedicated to new talent and new writing, it has produced 5 shows to date, including Half-Life, which is shortly to be published by Samuel French.

Press release

For the full press release, please click here. (1.4Mb pdf)

Contents:

40% Dave Key-Pugh
40% Katy Darby
20% special guest stars - Jo Risebero, Martin Lamb, Andrea Law, Louisa Tee and Luke Bateman.

Product description: Sixty minutes of satirical, silly and plain saucy original songs and comedy

Instructions: Decant into Fringe theatre for a week, agitate gently, sprinkle with sequins and non-sequiturs, bring to a boil.

May contain untraceable Amazonian toxins.

Yes, the time has come. einekleine theatre company and Hugh Allison's The Yellowchair Performance Experience (TYPE) come together to bring you the "Fabulous ... hilarious ... magnificently filthy" hour of cabaret that is Beauty and the Bitch. Hitherto we have performed at the Poetry Cafe, on a barge in Battersea, at the Asylum Club and at the Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford - but the fun is only just beginning...

Suffice it to say that we have blown all our sweetie money on a week's run at the White Bear Theatre, Kennington, from Tues 9th March to Sat 13th March inclusive, starting at 9pm. The revamped and hopefully generously sponsored show includes highlights such as:

• New songs! (Watch out for Serious Song, Your Ben Sherman Shirt and Designated Driver)
• Our classic hits! (If I Were Gay [And You Weren't Dead], Thanks for the Memory and more!
• Frequent costume changes! (for Katy anyway)
• Dazzling lighting effects ... disco balls, gobos, fairy lights and more!

A different guest star every night! (Talent straight from D'Oyly Carte & Royal College of Music)

I ask, you how could any sane person resist?

Venue info:

The White Bear is at:
138 Kennington Park Road
London SE11 4RB
Tube: Kennington (2 mins)
Box office: 020 7793 9193.

We look forward to seeing you there. Oh yes.

What the press say:

"Well-aimed parody" - Evening Standard
"Their finest three minutes is easily the shoestring DIY video for Gimme an 80s Movie, which neatly sends up celluloid classics" - Evening Standard
"Katy Darby has a wicked smirk accompanied by mezzo-soprano flourishes, while Dave Key-Pugh boasts the kinky jollity of a young Stephen Fry"

Recent Shows

Johnny Simple (or The Unforgettable Miser!)

Running from 25th November to 14th December 2003 at the Pentameters Theatre, 28 Heath Street, London, NW3 6TE, this period comedy, based on Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, is directed by Katy Darby for Einekleine Theatre Company.

Written by Nevil Frenkiel and Harold Langshaw, Johnny Simple is set in 1666, a time of Plague and Fire. Combined with a corpse in the closet, could Johnny's day get any worse?

Johnny Simple shows that the course of true love never ran smooth, blending Renaissance farce with Restoration Wit.

See the cast and crew list and full flyer.

"This is a lively, punchy comedy with some fine slapstick performances ... director Katy Darby has created a mischievous, imaginative Restoration ambience. Good fun all round."

Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine

For the full review, click here and scroll down to the Pentameters Theatre section.

Open Secrets

Einekleine Theatre's Katy Darby authored Open Secrets, performed by Straight from Work Theatre in October 2003. This play is to be published shortly by Samuel French.

Waiting for Melissa

This sparkling new boy-almost-meets-girl comedy is written by Times columnist and playwright Nick Thomas, and features Adrian Peck, star of ITV's Sitcom Trials, in the role of Joe.

Melissa is ravishing. Melissa is clever. Melissa is the woman Joe has been waiting his whole life for - the only problem tonight is that Joe is still waiting, and Melissa's very late indeed...

Sweet Ladies

The einekleine theatre company's last project was a co-production with Nick Thomas (author of 2001 hit Dancing Bears) of his new play, Sweet Ladies, at the Old Fire Station theatre in Oxford. The show, a twisted tale of fame, pain and too much champagne, starred einekleine regulars Katy Darby and Lucy Blackledge, and was on from Tuesday 17th September to Saturday 21st 2002.

Dancing Bears

Nick Thomas also wrote einekleine theatre company's most successful show to date; two runs and a Time Out Critic's choice.

Half-life

einekleine theatre company recently presented a piece of new writing, Half-life.