Edinburgh Fringe: satirists bid farewell to Boris Johnson

Source of image, R od Penn

In 2019, Boris Johnson had just become Prime Minister and was not featured much in the comedy routines of the Edinburgh Fringe. The 2022 festival comes to a close in the week that Mr Johnson's turbulent period also ends. So what do satirists have to say about him? And will they miss him?

The disheveled, pot-bellied, tousled-haired Boris Johnsons has been staggering through a number of shows on the Fringe of Edinburgh this year.

But writer-director Adam Meggido is keen to clarify his production Boris The Third is a comedy with a cast of six and a fully developed script rather What a bagful of jokes.

Like many recent scripts, Meggido explains, it started in lockdown.

"When Boris Johnson was 18, he was chosen at school for the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III. But it is said he never learned his lines and all s ended in utter chaos.

"It all struck me as an irresistibly theatrical way to see what he was when he was young. And I sincerely think it highlights his rise and fall since."

The story imagines the rehearsals of the play, then the performance itself Actor Harry Kershaw crafts a compelling proto-Boris script on stage Ambition and flashes of charm never quite disguise the talentless teenager for concentration.

Meggido says Mr Johnson's character is a gift to the writers. "In public he is a prankster and indeed he plays the clown very well. It comes with a good dose of fun and that's part of its appeal to the public.