New show starring award-winning comic set for city theatre.
A one-man show starring a former psychiatric nurse and ex-whistleblower now training NHS staff is coming to the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham city centre on 18th and 19th July.
Kevin, King of Egypt is about an unlikely friendship between an escaped psychiatric patient and a lost six-year old. The show’s creator, Leicester-based Rob Gee, spent over twelve years working as a psychiatric nurse before becoming a full-time comic and poet.
Kevin, an escaped psychiatric patient, is not pleased about his diagnosis, even less pleased about being on a section of the Mental Health Act and distinctly upset about being told he is not the reincarnation of the pharaoh Ramses II. On his way to Egypt, viaTesco Express, he stumbles across the nemesis to all his plans: Millie – a lost six year old. Together they embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever. The show is directed by Tara Gatherer.
Rob explains: “When I first wrote Kevin, I performed it to an audience of ex-patients. I couldn’t have done it without them. One gentleman I’d nursed many times approached me with a huge grin, shook my hand and said: ‘An old Egyptian pharaoh – that’s not much of a delusion of grandeur, is it?’”
Rob, who has won over twenty awards for his solo shows, has performed with luminaries such as Harold Pinter, Sue Townsend, Jo Brand and Frankie Boyle. He also goes on to psychiatric wards to help patients create their own comedy and stand-up poetry, explaining. “The simple act of sharing a joke with someone can be tremendously therapeutic. Above all, laughter can remind us that we’re not alone.” Rob’s workshops in mental health settings recently won the Make Me Happy award at the Leicester Comedy Festival.
