Johnson and Boswell – Late But Live ★★★ - August 2015 The Guardian - By Lyn Gardner - August 9th, 2015

Stewart Lee’s celebration and demolition of the 18th-century double act Johnson and Boswell is not so much a play as a conceit, but it’s a clever one. Taking the form of a 20th-century book launch for Boswell’s tome, it has the puppyish Boswell (Miles Jupp) trying to get Johnson to perform, as much in the…

Shades of Blackadder in Elizabeth & Raleigh - October 2008 The Evening Standard - By Bruce Dessau - October 15th, 2008

It is impossible to produce an irreverent historical comedy without inviting comparisons with Blackadder and this romp certainly knows it. Writer Stewart Lee even makes a pre-emptive strike by namechecking Baldrick and co’s authors Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Maybe he should give them some royalties, too. The tissue-thin plot involves Raleigh (Miles Jupp) wooing…

Simon is queen for a play in a fun take on history - October 2008 Coventry Telegraph - By Marion Mcmullen - October 3rd, 2008

PLAYING a drama queen is proving a right royal pain in the backside for Simon Munnery. He puts on wigs, ruffs, makeup and elaborate costumes to transform himself into famous monarch Elizabeth I for comedy special Elizabeth & Raleigh – Late But Live. The offering by Stewart Lee teams Simon with Miles Jupp, as Walter…

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE - October 2008 The Wharf.co.uk - By Giles Broadbent - October 2nd, 2008

Where the Blackadder feared to tread – that is the territory occupied with resolution and wit by Simon Munnery and Miles Jupp in Stewart Lee’s take on the first Elizabethan age. The plot of Elizabeth And Raleigh – passingly relevant as an excuse to move things along – has Raleigh wooing the Virgin Queen only…

Elizabeth and Raleigh @ Library Theatre ★★★★ - September 2008 Manchester Evening News - By Marissa Burgess - September 17th, 2008

HAVING seen Richard Curtis’ jokey take on history in Blackadder and Frankie Howerd relating his doubles to the people of ancient Rome in Up Pompeii, we’re all familiar with lampooned versions of the history books. But not many stray as far as this gloriously silly interpretation of the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and her…

Elizabeth & Raleigh Late But Live - September 2008 Crackerjack - By Sophie Lomax - September 10th, 2008

Hmm… a woman played by a bloke? Sounds a mite Elizabethan and – hey, look! It is. Our eponymous heroes in Late but Live: Elizabeth and Raleigh are ably portrayed by funny men Simon Munnery (Queen Elizabeth I) and Miles Jupp (Sir Walter Raleigh) in this gag-fuelled romp at the Tobacco Factory Theatre. And, yes,…