“Wonderful project. In their radically different ways, Shuff & Byng were stars of the first magnitude their comic genius was - and remains - unique” - SIMON CALLOW
INVESTMENT & GUARANTOR OPPORTUNITY PACK
Dear potential partner, We are delighted to invite you into the world of Shuff & Byng - a vibrant, hilarious and heart-warming celebration of two of the British stage’s most extraordinary, yet unfairly forgotten, comic geniuses. In order to tour this production nationwide in May/June 2028, we need visionary partners to become an ‘Investor’ or ‘Guarantor’: your support carries double the impact - it provides crucial leverage to unlock Arts Council England funding and helps to ensure that the production has the cash-flow to be green lit and proceed into full production. Why invest? Shuff & Byng’s stories are as rich and contrasting as British theatre itself. Rex Jameson’s Mrs Shufflewick was the sublimely funny, gin-soaked woman in the corner of the pub, whilst Douglas Byng was the epitome of West End glamour and razor-sharp wit, presenting a glorious satire of 1920s and 30s musical theatre. Bringing these two icons back into the spotlight delivers a fantastic night-out filled with live music, sharp humour and genuine heart, as well as shining a light on a vital piece of LGBTQ+ history. We very much hope that you can be one of the team to help us bring these immortals of British comedy back to life and support this innovative, entertaining and celebratory theatrical production! With warmest regards, Tony Lidington (Writer & Director) Matthew Linley (Producer) 1
Shuff & Byng BY TO NY LIDINGTON Step into a decadent world where two mid-20th century giants of drag meet the present day. An intimate revue inspired by two stars of the past, a journey through drag’s history from the elegant to the outrageous, brimming with live music, humour and heart.
AN I N VESTMENT OPPORT UN I T Y S U I TAB LE F OR ● Theatre champions and arts philanthropists ● Advocates and those interested in LGBTQ+ history ● Theatre enthusiasts seeking insider access ● Advocates and those interested in drag, cabaret, variety and music hall
“A great evening last night - we loved it!” - John Knowles, Noel Coward Foundation trustee
2
Kinny Gardner as Dougie Byng in Shuff & Byng R&D Performance (Ipswich 2025) - photo Mike Kwasniak
THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY To bring Shuff & Byng to the stage, and unlock its full touring potential, we are seeking to raise £50,000 in a combination of upfront Investors (up to £25,000) and underwriting Guarantors (up to £25,000). In today’s touring landscape, bringing work of this scale and quality to national audiences requires visionary private backing and public subsidy to work hand in hand. If you join us now as a founding partner, your support will carry a double impact - it will help us unlock key Arts Council England support, as well as enable us to green light the project to give it the go ahead.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE We offer two distinct pathways to join the project: as a Guarantor (underwriting, no cash upfront) or as a low-risk Investor (providing capital upfront).
OPTION A: PROJECT GUARANTOR Provide vital backing without transferring upfront capital. Guarantee amount: multiples of £5,000 Structure: as a Guarantor you transfer no cash upfront. Instead you sign a formal agreement, which would underwrite a portion of the projects income, up to the level of your guarantee. Capital call condition: Your funds would only be called upon if the total share of box office revenues earned by Shuff & Byng falls below our break-even target of £50,000 on the May/June 2028 tour.
WORKED EXAMPLE OF OPTION A (GUARANTOR) In this example, if you were to agree to act as a guarantor for £5,000: Upfront outlay: £0. However our formal agreement would be presented as part of our Arts Council England application to prove financial resilience. Outcome 1: in this outcome, if the tour meets or exceeds the target revenues of Shuff & Byng project (target £50k), your funds would NEVER be called upon and no cash would be transferred. However, you would still receive the benefits outlined on p6. Outcome 2: in this outcome, if the tour were to fall short of the target revenues by £7,000, a proportion of your guarantee would be called-upon, using the following calculation: The amount you have guaranteed, divided by 25,000 (so in our example of £5,000 investment 5,000/25,000) = 0.2 This amount is then applied to the revenue shortfall - in our example £7,000 (shortfall) x0.2 (as calculated above) = £1,400 of your £5,000 guarantee will be called in.
3
OPTION B: LOW-RISK INVESTOR An opportunity to support the project financially and with your investment underwritten by UK Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) - this is a far less risky investment than most other theatre investment programmes. Minimum Investment: £5,000 (up to our total TTR claim of £25,000) Recoupment of your capital investment: capital is returned in full upon receipt of the project’s UK Theatre Tax Relief claim (typically processed within 12 months following project completion). Box office profit return: To recognise your early backing, if the net box office income exceeds our baseline target of £50,000, you will receive an additional return of 5% per £5,000 invested on all net box office earnings above that threshold.
WORKED EXAMPLE OF OPTION B (LOW-RISK INVESTMENT) Investment: you invest £10,000 in January 2028 (2 x £5,000 units). Tour execution: the show tours in Spring/Summer 2028 with a baseline box office target of £50,000. Performance: actual net box office achieved reaches £66,700 (£16,700 above target). Profit share: if the actual total share of box office revenues earned by Shuff & Byng reaches £66,700 (£16,700 above target), then you would receive 10% (2 x 5%) of the £16,700 surplus = £1,670 profit return in addition to your initial investments Tax relief recoupment: the project would submit its TTR claim in February 2029 and would likely receive funds in June 2029, at which point your initial investment and any profit share due would be paid.
4
Dusty Limits and Kinny Gardner in Shuff & Byng R&D Performance (Ipswich 2025) - photo Mike Kwasniak
SUPPORTER & INVESTOR BENEFITS All Investors and Guarantors joining Shuff & Byng will be welcomed into the heart of the creative process with exclusive access: Rehearsal Room Access (‘The Rehearsal Pact’) An invitation to step into the rehearsal room, meet the cast, watch key scenes take shape and participate in an intimate Q&A with the creative team. VIP Press & Gala Invites Complimentary VIP tickets to both the Opening Press Night (Exeter Northcott) and the Gala Press Night (Wilton’s Music Hall), including invitations to post-show receptions. Programme & Official Credit Named accreditation in the production programme, press releases, and official show marketing as a core Investor. Priority House Seats Priority access to a reserved allocation of the best seats in the house across all tour venues. Exclusive Tour Mementos ● Signed production programme. ● Bound Director’s Script signed by Tony Lidington and the team. ● Regular insider production updates and post-tour financial insights.
Enduring Gratitude Our heartfelt thanks for bringing this vital piece of theatrical history to light.
NEXT STEPS & CONTACT To discuss joining the project as an Investor or Guarantor, or to request full financial projections, budget schedules and contract agreements, please contact:
Matthew Linley 079897 48350 5
linleymatt@gmail.com
T HE MAKIN G OF SHUFF & BYNG
6
MR S . SH UF F L E W I CK IN 6 QUICK-FIRE FACTS
1. Mrs Shufflewick was the archetypal woman in the corner of the pub. Clad in a trademark floral hat and a scabby fur boa, famous for propping-up the bar at the fictional local, ‘The Cock and Comfort’. 2. Rex cut his performance teeth during WWII in RAF gang shows in a highcaliber company led by Tony Hancock and alongside Dick Emery and Peter Sellers. He would become a mainstream star in the 50’s & 60’s (TV Mirror Personality of the Year, 1955).
“A comic genius. Even in his cups Rex was gloriously funny.” - Roy Hudd on Mrs. Shufflewick 3. Unlike the glitz and glamour of modern drag, ‘Shuff’ was rooted in gritty, hilarious reality. A pioneer of the British drag circuit, the comedian’s comedian - Shuff is rightly celebrated for the ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary woman at the bar.
4. Rex’s original character was a comedy vicar who would tell his congregation to “flock off.” The BBC deemed this far too risqué for the airwaves, leading to the birth of Mrs. Shufflewick — a character partly based on his foster mum, Aunty Mabel.
5. The man behind the character, Rex Jameson, was born in 1924. He was left on the steps of Trinity Hospital, London and was subsequently brought up by foster parents in Southend. 7
6. Mrs. Shufflewick would appear outwardly prim and proper, yet would frequently slip into tales of murky sexual adventures delivered with impeccable, ladylike timing.
DOU G L A S BYN G IN 6 QUICK-FIRE FACTS
1. The First Lady of TV: Douglas Byng made history as the first female impersonator to perform on BBC TV (whilst also being banned from BBC Radio!). Byng’s camp performances brought a sophisticated wit to the new medium.
3. The king of the innuendo: billed as “Bawdy but British,” his comedy was a masterclass in the double entendre. His songs were legendary for being filled with sexual innuendo, delivered with an elegant, knowing wink to his audience.
2. Queer in plain sight: Byng was a cross-dressing pioneer who lived and performed with an outrageous elegance decades before the 1967 legal reforms. His work is now seen as a vital link in the history of sexuality and gender roles in British performance.
4. A legendary dame: beyond the cabaret clubs, Byng was one of the most celebrated pantomime dames in history. Over a career spanning 70 years, he appeared in more than 30 pantomime productions, perfecting the art of the grande dame.
5. A 70-year legacy: from the elegant 1920s to the swinging 60s and beyond, Byng’s career was an extraordinary journey through drag history. An eccentric and exciting icon of the stage, he redefined what it meant to be a British showman.
‘The most refined vulgarity in London, mais quel artiste!’ - Noël Coward on Douglas Byng 6. High-society glamour: Byng was a giant of decadent cabaret and a star of the West End. He was the toast of the town, famously rubbing shoulders and hanging-out with theatre royalty like Noël Coward. 8
COMMU NIT Y EN G AGEM EN T The development of Shuff & Byng has been grounded in workshops, interviews and conversations with LGBTQ+ young people, contemporary drag queens, kings and female impersonators from Harwich, Colchester and Exeter. These sessions were a vital part of our creative process and underlined the relevance of the material and Shuff and Byng’s story to today’s world. Through that work we have developed two workshops available to all venues who take the show. “The community-based research gave me as an established Queer artist a rare and welcome opportunity to discover in greater detail the joys and delights of contemporary LGBTQ+ attitudes and mores.” - Kinny Gardner (Douglas Byng) “The Shuff & Byng project has been an amazing experience for both our young people and our adult group.... We can’t wait to see the finished piece and are excited about the possibility of collaborating with the team again in the future.” - Fern Lovett, The OutHouse, LGBTQ+ Charity in Colchester & North Essex
AU D IENCE F EED B ACK “Warmed my heart and made me think.” “A fabulous evening of great entertainment” “Fascinating and delightful” “The whole evening was enthralling. Terrific, fabulous fun” “Just go. Even if you have never heard of Shuff and Byng - It’s such enormous fun”
9
T HE TE AM MAK IN G SH U F F & BYNG TO NY L ID IN GTON W RIT E R & D IRE C TOR “Imagine a really compelling story about two of the earliest female impersonators – that’s Shuff & Byng. Eccentric, exciting and relevant, the show explores class dynamics, sexuality, gender roles and the complex nature of joy, often over-shadowed by inner turmoil. It’s full of fun, great laughs, great music and some intimate insights.” Tony Lidington is a professional director, writer and performer with over 40 years’ experience: writing credits for the stage include Comrades - a folk musical, Joey - King of Clowns, Dan Leno – The King’s Jester, Kings of Cloth of Gold and 10 pantomimes for various middle-scale venues. Tony has written over a dozen BBC Radio 4 programmes, including The Byng Ballads performed live by Julian Clary in 2012. Tony has been artistic director of his own company – Promenade Promotions (Prom-Prom) Limited for the past 23 years, producing work at small and medium scales alongside freelance directing. Tony has been the artistic director of Wakefield Theatre Royal & Opera House and project managed festivals and events throughout the country for diverse audiences at all scales of performance. He is former Senior Lecturer in Drama at the University of Exeter, where he was awarded his doctorate in 2017.
M AT TH E W LI N L E Y P ROD U C E R “I’ve loved getting to know these two great stars of their time who were almost forgotten. Shuff & Byng feels like a vital, relevant and gloriously quirky way to bring them both back to the stage” Matthew is a freelance producer. He is currently Head of Producing (Stephen Joseph Theatre - maternity cover) and Associate Producer: National Touring for RABBLE Theatre, as well as Chair of the National Rural Touring Forum. In development - Shuff & Byng, KATHARINE (both for Slaget Theatre) and William the Conqueror (RABBLE). Recent work for RABBLE includes Glitch (national tour), Henry 1 (Reading, Winchester, London) and for Funnelwick Limb, Twelve Yuletide Yarns, The Chronicles of Atom and Luna and The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps. Other highlights as producer include The City and the Town (national tours in UK and Sweden), The Ballad of Maria Marten (Eastern Angles, national tours) and Nina - a story about me and Nina Simone (Unity Theatre, national and international tours).
10
Shuff & Byng BY Tony Lidington PRODUCED BY Matthew Linley on behalf of Slaget Theatre Proudly made in Harwich at Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Matthew Linley T 079897 48350 E linleymatt@gmail.com RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT SUPPORTED BY Eastern Angles Colchester Arts Centre Arts Council England with funds from the National Lottery COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK SUPPORTED BY Noël Coward Foundation ARCHIVE RESEARCH WORK SUPPORTED BY Bunnett-Muir Musical Theatre Awards with the Victoria & Albert Museum
“Just go - even if you have never heard of Shuff & Byng - it’s such terrific, fabulous fun” - Sofia Bagge, Theatre Director Production photography by Mike Kwasniak. Team photograph by Alice Cannell. Rehearsal and BTS photography by Alice Cannell and Matthew Linley. Mrs Shufflewick archive photography courtesy of The Robert Workman Archive (Bishopsgate Institute) and Dr Tony Lidington Personal Archive Douglas Byng archive photography courtesy of The Wellcome Collection and Dr Tony Lidington Personal Archive . Matthew Linley biog picture by Luke Witcomb