Remember the Who Wants to be a Millionaire scandal when Charles Ingram and his wife Diana were caught cheating their way to the grand prize? Or were they?
James Graham’s hit play Quiz tells the true story of the infamous cough-that-shook-the-nation in this fast-paced, high-energy show of courtroom drama and game show spectacle that asks its audience to be the jury.
Quiz tells the true story of the infamous cough-that-shook-the-nation
Was it a daring act of deception? Or a media witch-hunt that turned ordinary people into national villains? Make your own mind up on one of the most thrilling scandals in recent history, as Oxford’s Ronin Theatre brings Quiz to OFS from March 3-7.
So what can we expect? “A funny, smart and gripping play: you’ve read the headlines, now find out the true story!” co-directors Jessica Reilly and Alistair Nunn explain.
Quiz originally premiered in 2017 and then transferred to the West End. Framed around a trial, the first half presents every event of the story from the perspective of the ‘prosecution’ – that the Ingrams were oddball cheats. The second half elaborates on what the Ingrams say happened: two shy people, desperate to be entertaining, who made a show of building tension and answering questions they knew the answers to.
‘we hope the audience get a sense that there is more to this story than perhaps they realised’
So why is there still such a fascination with this sensationist drama? “Firstly, and most importantly, it’s a great story! You can tell that straight away from how the scandal captured the public imagination – and continues to do so. Quiz takes an already compelling story and deepens it by looking more at the people at the heart of it, and what they were like,” Jessica and Alastair add.
“James Graham‘s script makes for a really interesting play to stage because everything we think we know about this story basically comes from a TV show. So we hope the audience get a sense that there is more to this story than perhaps they realised.
“One of the most interesting things about the show is it literally asks the audience to decide at the end and we can’t wait to see what audiences will do with this: will they believe the Ingrams, or will they still think they did it even if they feel a bit more sorry for them than they did before? It’s going to be fascinating to find out!
“what the audience decides at the end is, of course, entirely up to them!”
“What’s clever about Quiz is that the more you learn, the more your feelings about people might change. People who feel like heroes can start to feel like villains and vice versa.”
Ronin Theatre has made its name for staging modern plays with big themes that challenge and inspire its audiences, and Quiz certainly fits the bill: “Theatre can let us present both versions of these same events and ‘ask the audience’ to decide which one they believe! But what the audience decides at the end is, of course, entirely up to them!”
Quiz is at OFS from March 3-7. https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/quiz-by-james-graham/
