British Comedy Guide

Sitcom Mission

The Museum Of Things

By: Rich Heap

Sitcom Mission 2011 finalist

Welcome to the UK's worst small visitor attraction.

Will Buckingham is manager of the Brighton Museum of Things, a visitor attraction with no good attractions. He has an endless supply of ideas to turn around the museum's fortunes, and desperately wants to win the respect of his domineering father.

Unfortunately, there are three big problems: misanthropic gift shop manager Rose, chronically lazy tour guide Jackson, and the manipulative wannabe lothario Marcus who runs Brighton Aquarium.

Can Will succeed? Or is he doomed to stay trapped in the museum forever?

Credits

Cast Character
Philip Oakland ... Will
Martin Behrman ... Marcus
James Baldwin ... Jackson
Helen Kennedy ... Rose

Rich Heap

Rich Heap, 27, is a journalist at business magazine Property Week. He writes about big commercial property issues like changes to the planning system. He does pretty well at this and was nominated for a couple of awards for in 2010. He didn't win.

In his spare time, Rich enjoys writing things that he thinks are funny. He started to perform stand-up comedy two years ago and in 2010 reached the final of the Amused Moose Laugh Off new act competition in Edinburgh. He is proud of the lovely review he got from Julia Chamberlain. However, he didn't win.

Shortly after Edinburgh, Rich decided he didn't want to perform anymore. He turned his attention to scriptwriting and in December came up with a sitcom based in a rubbish small museum. He loves rubbish small museums. This evolved into The Museum of Things. Rich is nervous but hopes you like it. He doesn't expect to win.

His favourite sitcoms are Father Ted, Blackadder and Seinfeld. He plays X-Box, drives a blue Fiat Panda, and is getting married at the end of July. It's also his birthday on 19th July and seeing The Museum of Things on stage is a great gift.

Elgiva Field (Director)

For Oblique House, Elgiva has directed the UK premiere of Eight Women (Southwark Playhouse) by Robert Thomas, 10,000 Feet and Falling for the 61st Aldeburgh Festival, Was He Anyone? by N.F. Simpson (Union Theatre), and the premieres of two new plays Faultlines (Union Theatre) by James Pearson and The Time of the Tortoise (Theatre 503) by Kirsten Specht.

Recently she directed the new musical, The Vaudevillains, with Les Enfants Terribles. Prior to this she worked as Assistant Director with Theatre Rites on their new site specific production for children, Paradise, for the 2010 Ruhr Triennale Festival. Other site specific credits includeworking as assistant director on Punchdrunk's production of The Masque of the Red Death (BAC) and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.

Other credits include revival director of Melly Still's production of Cinderella (Warwick Arts Centre). She worked as associate director with Unlimited Theatre on The Moon The Moon (national tour) and Pentabus Theatre on the site specific production of Shuffle. Other assistant director credits include working on Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress (Peacock Theatre) and Simon Bent's new play Branded at the Old Vic.

www.obliquehouse.org.uk