Phoebe Waller-Bridge admits she felt ‘shocked and embarrassed’ when she first revisited Fleabag’s stage show as she discusses raising money for the NHS with the production
She is helping to raise funds for frontline staff working during the coronavirus crisis by making Fleabag’s stage show available to stream.
And Phoebe Waller-Bridge is set to appear on a special edition of the Graham Norton Show from her home, which will air on Friday night, where she admitted she was ‘shocked and embarrassed’ when she revisited the play’s script.
Discussing the stage show, the award-winning writer, 34, said: ‘I was in my mid 20s when I did it originally and everyone involved was full of attitude, and totally unapologetic about what we wanted to say and do with the work.
Surprising: Phoebe Waller-Bridge admitted she felt ‘shocked and embarrassed’ when she first revisited Fleabag’s stage show, as she appeared on Friday’s Graham Norton Show from home
‘When I re-mounted it in New York in my early 30s I remember in the first rehearsal opening the script – which is quite a lot edgier that the TV show – and genuinely being quite shocked and a bit embarrassed.
‘I really didn’t think I could say some of the lines. But once I got back into the character it was a lot easier,’ she added.
Fleabag fans can stream the one-woman performance on Soho Theatre’s On Demand in the UK and Ireland for the price of £4.
While it is available in American on Amazon Prime Video as well as Canada and New Zealand for $5.
Different time: Phoebe said she and her fellow playwrights were ‘full of attitude, and totally unapologetic about what we wanted to say and do’ in their 20s, when she first wrote the play
As well as help raise money for the NHS, funds will also go to Broadway Cares which will help to support theatre staff from all sectors in the US
Going on to speak about the production, Phoebe joked: ‘Last year’s stage show recording is the only bit of Fleabag that I haven’t completely rinsed dry out in the world! So why not do it for a good cause.’
Phoebe appears on the show alongside Chris Hemsworth, who spoke from his home in Australia, Richard E. Grant, who discussed new show Dispatches From Elsewhere, and Joe Lycett who promoted his show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back.
Shock: Of revisiting the play’s script in New York City last year, she admitted it was ‘quite a lot edgier that the TV show’ so she felt ‘genuinely being quite shocked and a bit embarrassed’
But that wasn’t all, as there was also a special music segment from Jessie Ware who performed her new song Spotlight in her daughter’s disco light-filled bedroom.
Even during lockdown, Graham also made time to talk with the public from their homes for the Big Red Chair segment.
The Graham Norton Show is set to air on BBC One on Friday April 24 at 9pm. It will also available on BBC iPlayer.
Fundraiser: As well as help raise money for the NHS, funds made from the show will also go to Broadway Cares which will help to support theatre staff from all sectors in the US