The Duck House

The Duck House
2013 production poster
Written by	Dan Patterson Colin Swash
Date premiered	23 October 2013 (2013-10-23)
Place premiered	Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Genre	Comedy Farce, Satire

The Duck House is a 2013 comedy farce play written by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash. It is based around the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal, and made its world premiere at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in October 2013, at the start of a five-week UK tour. The production then transferred to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre, where it ran until 29 March 2014.

The play is set in May 2009, one year before the General Election, Gordon Brown's Labour government is unpopular. Robert Houston is a Labour backbencher seeking to defect to the Conservatives to keep his seat, when the expenses scandal hits the papers the day before his interview with Sir Norman Cavendish to complete the switch. Houston is in trouble and so is his staff (his wife Felicity, his son Seb and his Russian housekeeper Ludmilla) and somehow Seb's girlfriend Holly becomes involved with Sir Norman. What follows is a comedy of errors as Houston and his family try to cover their expenses claims including a massage chair, a glittered toilet seat,hanging baskets and an ornamental duck house.

The Duck House is a farcepolitical satire written by Mock the Week's producer Dan Patterson and Have I Got News for You writer Colin Swash. Set during Gordon Brown's tenure as Prime Minister it is based on the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal. The show's title is in reference to one specific MP's expense claim – that of Sir Peter Viggers of £1,645 for a duck house at his constituency home. The production is directed by Terry Johnson featuring set and costume design by Lez Brotherston, sound by John Leonard and lighting by Mark Henderson. The show held a pre-West End tour starting in October 2013 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford with further dates in Malvern, Nottingham and Cambridge before beginning previews at the Vaudeville Theatre, London on 27 November 2013, with an official opening night on 10 December, booking until 29 March 2014. The shows lead roles are played by Ben Miller,Nancy Carroll, Diana Vickers,Debbie Chazen, James Musgrave and Simon Shepherd. Whilst speaking about the show Miller said 'They say that comedy equals tragedy plus time, and traumatic as the expense scandal was hopefully we can all now have a bloody good laugh about it. And if any MPs don't like it they can always claim for it on expenses.' Only one politician attended the shows opening night, former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson. A typical performance runs two hours and 15 minutes, including one interval of 15 mins.