Bond on stage – and she’s wearing a dress!

Imagine one day the usual intelligence blunder in London’s Public Transport doesn’t concern itself with uninteresting trivia like Middle East secrets but with a real headline-league scoop: left on a train this time is the personnel file of THE secret agent incarnate: James Bond. Whose file also happens to contain a lovely kiddie photo of yourself, indicating you share half of his DNA. Does that sound exciting? It is, even more so for Martini Bond, the young woman who this way learns her papa wasn’t a Rolling Stone, but might as well have been. At least it explains her childhood in a single parent household, which had pros and cons. As one might expect if mum is a Bond girl.

But Martini has no time to ponder her fate and write daddy a stiff letter about his shortcomings in her upbringing. Bond is missing after doing business of the deadly kind with one Franken von Banken; just the person to trust with your money and matters of world domination in general. Martini’s mission – should she choose not to go shopping instead – is to find dad and save the world. If she succeeds nobody’s going to complain Bond’s wearing a dress in this one…

 

This year’s Camden Fringe Festival presents Bond fans with a truly special treat by playwright Lyndsey Jones. Her new comedy ‘Martini Bond – The Hunt for the Spy Who Loved Her Mum’ honours 50 years of Bond on the silver screen in a most remarkable manner. It’s an affectionate celebration of the spy who saved the world time and again from pure evil, and audiences around the globe from boredom and drabness by sipping his vodka martini in our place – amongst other things we’d love to do, but do not dare. Nobody does it better for us than James Bond.

 

CommanderBond.net spoke with Lyndsey Jones about her comedy and gained some intriguing background information, thanks entirely to the playwright, who kindly offered photographic documentation from the rehearsals for ‘Martini Bond’. An offer we of course coldly and shamelessly exploited in true Bond fashion, as you can see in the photos coming with this article.

Lyndsey’s affection for everybody’s favourite agent in Her Majesty’s Service is firmly rooted in the by-now classic early films of Sean Connery and Roger Moore. In this spirit her play is filled with witty allusions and references to the most memorable adventures of Bond’s career.

 

“The play celebrates James Bond but also looks at the consequences of his womanising ways.” Lyndsey said. “I just wondered what a daughter of Bond would be like. After all she would have grown up in a single parent household with a Bond girl for a mother. So would she shoot to kill or just go shopping for glamorous clothes?”

 

The initial spark for this extravaganza came from a dance sketch collaboration with popular comedy duo Spring Chix, Julia Collier and Clare Jones, featuring a Bond theme. From there it grew and grew until it became the fully grown play that will premier at the Camden Fringe in a few days. Other cast members include Juliet Holding, James Edenborough and Mike Stewart, all of whom are regular performers in London’s teeming theatre circuit. The illustrious  troupe is directed by Helen Niland, who only recently had a successful run at the Ecetera Theatre in Camden.

 

 

‘Martini Bond – The Hunt for the Spy Who Loved Her Mum’ is on August 17,18, 19 at the Camden Head, at 8pm. Tickets cost £ 7.50. To book go to The Camden Fringe

After this the play transfers to the Broadway Theatre, Barking, from 20 – 23 September (tickets £ 7.50) and will also be streamed online (tickets £ 2.99). Here ‘Martini Bond’ will be a major part of the Broadway Theatre’s Bond Week, together with ‘OO and His 7’, a performance by the London Ballet Company.

“It’s also extremely exciting that the play will be live streamed online. This is a new way for theatres struggling after funding cuts to raise new revenue streams and for companies such as ours to increase their audience base.” Lyndsey said.

 

Thanks to playwright Lynsey Jones for supporting this article with invaluable exclusive information and  photographic content.

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