The Messiah (NHB Modern Plays)

A travelling theatre troupe of two actors and an opera singer arrive by camel to masterfully enact the greatest story ever told. Patrick Barlow's The Messiah is a hilarious Christmas comedy that conjures up the sublime, the ridiculous and the truly angelic. First performed at the Tricycle Theatre in 1983, The Messiah was revived in this new, revised version for an extensive tour in 2018. 'Inspired silliness ... unalloyed pleasure' - Independent

Patrick Barlow is an English actor, comedian and playwright. His comedic alter ego, Desmond Olivier Dingle, is the founder, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the two-man National Theatre of Brent, which has performed on stage, on television and on radio. As a playwright, his work includes: a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (West Yorkshire Playhouse, 2005, then Tricycle Theatre and West End, as well as productions in Australia, New Zealand and Broadway); The Wonder of Sex (National Theatre, London, 2001); Love Upon the Throne (Edinburgh Festival and West End, 1998); and The Messiah (Tricycle Theatre, London, 1983; revived in a new version for a UK tour, 2018).