Dad's Money

On Wednesday night around forty people came to a cricket pavilion to see the world premiere of Dad's Money. Fantastic to have such a big audience - and the cast did a great job. It's been a huge struggle through dislocation, fracture, and orthopaedic surgery.

Those of you new to the Dad's Money blog may not know that 50% of the cast dislocated and fractured their shoulder in rehearsals. That actor is Martin Miller. I altered the script to give Martin's character the same injury he sustained and he's bravely carrying on with the show in the face of two screws in his shoulder and sensible medical advice. He will be covered by Richard Fry (Bully, Gilded Balloon Turret Room, midday) who will take the role for two performances a week and standby in the event of Martin being unable to perform.

Richard has a beard. This gives audiences the opportunity to see the role of Joe Napper with and without facial hair.

We’ve found the only actor who could possibly replace Martin Miller…

…it’s Martin Miller.

And Richard Fry.

Martin is so good, it takes two actors to replace him.

Richard is so good, he alone can bring the might of two men.

Martin heads up to Edinburgh on Sunday bravely carrying on in the face of dislocation, broken bones and sensible medical advice.

Richard will play the role for two shows a week, and take over in the event of any problems with Martin. He’s also in his own show, Bully (Gilded Balloon, midday). He’s also got a beard.

This gives the audience the opportunity to see the role of Joe Napper with and without facial hair.

Martin dislocated his shoulder during rehearsals on Saturday the 5th. The paramedics were great when they arrived, but Martin had a long wait for them while in a lot of pain. Arriving at the hospital (King's on Denmark Hill) there was another wait as his shoulder had to be X-rayed before they could try to put it back in. When the OK came, Martin was brave enough to let a tattooed charmer called Matt put his shoulder back in without a general anaesthetic.

They X-rayed again after relocation and unfortunately a small fracture was now visible in the top of Martin’s humerus. It seemed likely he’d need a screw in the bone to reattach it. However, the consultant deemed it unnecessary and we were very happy – surgery would have caused Martin further pain, trauma and recovery time.