Duo hoping to tickle ribs at Bowhill Theatre

Actors John Shedden and Finlay McLean are heading to Bowhill this month to tickle your funny bone, with the help of a skeleton.
John Shedden, left, and Finlay McLean, right, take their skinny pal to Bowhill this month.John Shedden, left, and Finlay McLean, right, take their skinny pal to Bowhill this month.
John Shedden, left, and Finlay McLean, right, take their skinny pal to Bowhill this month.

The pair are set to perform a series of weird and wonderful sketches at the Bowhill Theatre on Thursday, March 21, at 8pm.

You’ll meet a variety of hilarious characters from the land of the living (and the dead).

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Judge the judge, be starstruck by the astronomer, eavesdrop on the prime minister and the president, witness two extraordinary interviews as Hamlet and Shylock return to rewrite their stories.

You can even – if it’s your kind of thing – throw your undies at Wolf (the heartthrob) Humperhoven.

Out of this kaleidoscope of theatre, social satire, politics and parody emerges a startling view of the crazy world we live in.

The pair feature in Get a Life!, written by playwright and novelist David Henry Wilson – and they both have remarkable cvs.

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McLean has worked extensively in theatre, radio, TV and film.

His theatre career has included seasons at The Marlowe (Canterbury); The Byre (St Andrews) and more recently with Glasgow’s Bard in the Botanics.

McLean has taken part in several productions for the Arches, TAG, Òran Mór, Prime Productions and Theatre Objectiv, while radio credits include: Hatters Castle, Benny Lynch, A Meeting in Seville, McLevy and The Haverstock Hill Murder.

And you may have seen him on telly in such shows as Rebus, Taggart, Rab C Nesbitt, Waterloo Road, Lovesick and Burnistoun, as well as films Regeneration, Senseless, A Risk Worth Taking and Hector.

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Shetland-born Shedden’s distinguished career in broadcasting and theatre embraces everything from Shakespeare, Chekhov, Pinter and Beckett to solo fringe plays Every Inch a King (on David Garrick), Port and Lemon (on Sherlock Holmes and Mrs Hudson) and The Bloody Heart (on King James the Second); seasons at the Royal Lyceum, Perth Theatre, the Traverse and the Citizens.

Landmark productions include the premiere of Willie Rough, Galileo and The Thrie Estates.

He created the role of Stan Laurel in Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy which transferred from the Traverse to the Mayfair, London.

His roles range from Robert Louis Stevenson (The Laird of Samoa), JM Barrie, McGonagall, John Knox to Lady Bracknell.

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Radio classics include The Master of Ballantrae, Dracula, The 39 Steps, Kidnapped, The Misanthrope, The Falls, Uncle Varrick and McLevy, as well as countless serialised readings such as Travels with a Donkey, Redgauntlet and The Member.

Shedden’s telly appearances include Weir of Hermiston, Taggart, Rab C Nesbitt and Still Game.

He can also be heard on the BBC Burns website dedicated to the Bard of Ayrshire’s work.

Playwright Wilson is also a novelist, children’s author and translator.

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His children’s books, especially the Jeremy James series, have been translated into many languages.

Tickets for the show, priced £12 (£10 for under-16s), are available by calling 01750 22204 or booking online at www.bowhillhouse.co.uk