Withnail play 'a crap idea'
... says the cult film's star
Actor Richard Griffiths has branded the planned stage version of Withnail And I as ‘a crap idea’.The 59-year-old, who played the predatory homosexual Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 comedy, says he is firmly against plans to bring the film to the stage.
‘What function would it serve, except to make someone some money?’ he said.
Director Bruce Robinson has previously called the thought of a West End version ’scandalous’.
He said earlier this year: ‘The film of Withnail & I that I wrote and directed is what I wanted to say. Anything ancillary to that seems to be an attempt to wring it out like an old teabag for more money.’
Now Griffiths has told the BBC: ‘That's fine by me. He is the creator, and if he says no it's no and that's the end of that.’
But Richard E Grant, who played the poverty-stricken egocentric Withnail, was more open to the idea, saying he ‘could see it working well’.
Production company HandMade Films says it has the rights to launch a stage play without Robinson’s permission, but said it would not go ahead without his approval.
Published: 5 Oct 2006
