two old timers

Legends of the stage and screen, Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Allam, star in Ben Weatherill's equally heartwarming and moving Frank and Percy, directed by Sean Mathias at the Other Palace Theatre! The touching work presents like a fly on the wall as two old timers' discussions on a park bench move from small talk on the weather towards something entirely greater, with an unanticipated companionship beginning to bloom. With one a bereaved schoolteacher and the other a wisened elder, what new experiences may await the pair?

McKellen and Allam are two old friends with a time-tested personal rapport, whose credits and accolades need no introduction. They have worked together on stage before, performing at the Old Vic's pantomime production of Aladdin between 2004-2007. This is set to be an altogether more touching and personal affair, written by one of the UK's most exciting young playwrights Ben Weatherill, whose previous play Jellyfish transferred to the National Theatre in 2019 having been shortlisted for the Writer's Guild Award for Best Play. Direction comes from Sean Mathias, who directed McKellen and Allam in the Old Vic's Aladdin, as well as McKellen solo in many productions including Bent, Waiting For Godot and No Man's Land.