Comedy gets actorly: Andi Osho on tracing political faultlines in A Walk On Part

While we may know her best for her stand-up, acting is nothing new to Andi Osho, having done the highbrow (a range of plays in London and Liverpool), and the lowbrow (from Footballers' Wives: Extra Time to the incredible feat of playing different characters in Casualty and Holby City). 

 

It's back to the stage this time for Andi, though, who plays several roles in A Walk on Part – a political comedy based on the diaries of Labour MP Chris Mullin – from his wife Ngoc, to a Sunderland teenager and a Ukrainian refugee.

 

She tells us all about the play...

 

There's a lot of content that’s pertinent to what's happening at the moment, i.e. the control of the Murdoch empire, the economy, the formation coalition government. We also touch on 9/11 in the play, the repercussions of which, we're still experiencing now. 

 

Politics can be a very dry subject for art and it takes a lot of skill to lift it from being about a load of fat, middle-aged men in suits to something vibrant and worthy of a theatre audiences time. I think A Walk On Part manages that in bundles. It's fast-paced, witty and warm. I saw it in December because my mate, Hywel Morgan was in it (when it was on at Soho Theatre) and I thought it was great. When the audition offer came in, it was a no brainer for me. It's fascinating to plot Britain's political history over the last ten years and honestly, if you come for nothing else, come and see Hywel's Blair impression. Gives Rory Bremner a run for his money. 

 

Yes! I miss stand up and am looking forward to being allowed to speak to an audience again. I've loved returning to acting and my plan is to do a mixture of the stand up, acting and writing over the next few years. It's gonna be an Osho overload!

 

A Walk on Part is at the Arts Theatre in London until 14 July. Andi tours with her show All the Single Ladies from Thursday 27th September. Tickets are now on sale, for more information visit See Tickets or call 0871 230 5538.