Kate and Gerry McCann slam new theatre play inspired by Maddie's disappearance for 'cashing in' on their heartache

Kate and Gerry McCann slam new theatre play inspired by Maddie's disappearance for 'cashing in' on their heartache

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Tracey Kandohla
1 Oct 2019

A NEW play inspired by a dad’s "paranoia" after Madeleine McCann's disappearance has been slammed by her parents for trying to "cash in" on their heartache.

Kate and Gerry have hit out at renowned dramatist John Godber for using their daughter's kidnap in a bid to promote his latest work.


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The play 'This is not Right' focuses on a Dad obsessed with the Madeleine McCann case and keeping his daughter safe
A source close to the couple said: “They feel it is in poor taste to use Madeleine’s abduction and their own agony in the name of art and for a paying audience.

"Their daughter was taken more than 12 years ago and although police are doing everything they can to find her she is still a missing person.

“Linking Madeleine’s case, as high profile as it may be, to a stage play or a TV show which her family have not endorsed is not very helpful and it seems like a desperate attempt to cash in with an audience."

Godber tells of a father’s fear for the safety of his daughter when a fellow student goes missing from her university.
Blurb for the play "This is not Right” which opens for a short spell tomorrow after a preview tonight, states: “It is the unfiltered story of Holly Parker, a talented girl from a council estate in Hull, and her single parent dad.

"After exam success leads to her being bullied, Holly’s anxiety grows when her dad becomes obsessed with the Madeleine McCann case and keeping her safe. Now her Dad is losing control and Holly is scared. This is not right!”

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 4’s arts show Front Row, Godber, 63, said: "The genesis for the play was that I had two daughters, one went to Hull University one went to Leepo.

"The Madeleine McCann case had become absolutely everywhere and I as a dad started to get a little bit paranoid about where my kids were.”

He told how the play, which he first wrote six years but is only now being staged, is "about paranoia, fear, the way that we report things that are true and not true, and how paranoia is transferred from parents to offspring and vice versa. It’s about what we think is out there but might not be out there.”

It tells the fictional tale of bright Holly Parker who is cared for by her frantic dad after her mum walks out on them.

It opens at London’s Wilton's Music Hall a day before the funeral of real missing Hull student Libby Squires, 21, who was tragically found murdered in March two months after she vanished during a night out.

Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007.

She had been left sleeping along with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas bar with friends.

Heart doctor Gerry and ex GP Kate, both 51, from Rothley, Leics, cling onto a glimmer of hope their daughter could still be alive. She would now be aged 16.

British cops, who have been given £11.75 million of taxpayers' money for their investigation Operation Grange, have failed to unearth any new clue since their inquiry started in May 2011.

But officers are determined to crack the case and have been given a further £300,000 to keep the search going until the end of March next year.

A BBC crime drama The Cry starring Jenna Coleman which aired last autumn and is now being screened on RTE also draws parallels to Madeleine's disappearance.

The Cry producer Claire Mundell, recently asked about the similarities to Maddie’s kidnap, said: “There are umpteen sadly different high profile cases which have occurred over the years and there was no specific case that we were drawn upon.

"The show is an adaptation of a novel and what interested me about the novel when I first read it was that it spoke about a very contemporary sort of crime.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10045518/kate-and-gerry-mccann-slam-new-theatre-play/?utm_source=headtopics&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=2019-10-01

Weren't Mitchell, Swann & Summers, Bell Pottinger, Hanover, various lawyers in Portugal and the UK, as well as many others also "cashing in"?

So the McCanns aren't happy about this?  Yeah, right - I believe em  

I can't see how this playwright managed to write Madeleine McCann into this but it is clearly an attempt to promote the abduction theory.  The McCanns must be delighted/

Lets be honest, If Madeleine really had been abducted the McCanns would want to stop this or at least prevent him from using her name - are they trying to stop it?  Thought not

In fact, they would be better off stopping this than trying to silence Gonzalo Amaral

John Godber to Premiere New Play at Wilton’s Music Hall

By Phil Willmott Friday, August 23 2019, 14:54 - New Shows

This is Not Right BAFTA and Olivier Award-winner writer/director John Godber is one of the grand old men of British theatre. For decades he’s pioneered the type of populist yet meaningful comedy-drama which genuinely attracts a working class audience on tour across the UK and, for years, at his former base Hull Truck. So it’s always exciting to hear he has a new play.

London audiences can see his latest piece when his own company present the world première of THIS IS NOT RIGHT written and directed by the great man, at Wilton’s Music Hall (1 October – 5 October)

We’re told -

“This is not Right is the unfiltered story of Holly Parker, a talented girl from a Council estate in Hull, and her single parent Dad. After exam success leads to her being bullied, Holly’s anxiety grows when her Dad becomes obsessed with the Madeleine McCann case and keeping her safe. Holly moves on, from local college to University College London. Three years of freedom, music and mac ’n’ cheese. But a degree isn't worth what it was, and soon she is back on the estate she was desperate to leave, back with the spice zombies and the vandals next door, struggling with an over-protective parent to make things work, with no money, no job, and a whole load of debt.

Then after one night at the Welly Club, another student goes missing… Now her Dad is losing control and Holly is scared”.

This production follows the recent run of Scary Bikers at Trafalgar Studios and Godber directs Frazer Hammill (Dad) and Martha Godber (Holly Parker) in the production.

This is not Right, is told in the signature style of his seminal worldwide hit BOUNCERS in which a small cast play lots of different roles.

The press release reminds us of Godber’s significant contribution to Theatre. His credits as a playwright include SCARY BIKERS, BOUNCERS, UP ‘N’ UNDER (Olivier Award for Best New Comedy), APRIL IN PARIS, TEECHERS, BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS, CRAMP, HAPPY JACK, SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN, SALT OF THE EARTH, PASSION KILLERS, HAPPY FAMILIES, UP ‘N’ UNDER LL, GYM AND TONIC, DRACULA, LUCKY SODS, HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD, WEEKEND BREAKS, IT STARTED WITH A KISS, UNLEASHED, THICK AS A BRICK, BIG TROUBLE IN THE LITTLE BEDROOM, SEASONS IN THE SUN, ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS, OUR HOUSE, DEPARTURES, MEN OF THE WORLD, REUNION, SCREAMING BLUE MURDER, BLACK TIES AND TALES, PERFECT PITCH, GOING DUTCH, CHRISTMAS CRACKERS and CROWN PRINCE. Film writing credits include MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE (starring Sean Bean).

Cast credits are as follows.

Martha Godber plays Holly Parker. Her previous theatre credits include SEASONS IN THE SUN, I WANT THAT HAIR (East Riding Theatre), POP (Oldham Coliseum), THE MEMORY PROJECT, THE REMARKABLE TALE OF DOROTHY MACKAILL (Hull New Theatre), THREE EMOS (UK tour) and RIGHT (The Old Vic).

Frazer Hammill plays Dad. His previous theatre credits include WUTHERING HEIGHTS, LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, MACBETH, STUDS, FLINT STREET NATIVITY, TEECHERS (Hull Truck Theatre), BOUNCERS, POLES APART, SCULPTOR’S SURPRISE (Theatre Royal Wakefield) and UP ‘N’ UNDER (Hull New Theatre). For television his credits include HAPPY VALLEY AND THE HEART OF THOMAS HARDY. For film his credits include JUSTICE LEAGUE, ABRAHAM’S POINT and END OF MY TETHER.

https://www.londonboxoffice.co.uk/news/post/this-is-not-right
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Yeah yeah yeah - another feeble attempt to promote the abduction fantasy.  I wonder how much was 'donated' to their production for using the name of Madeleine McCann.

Looks like the makings of a box office hit from beyond the fringe - it should make history.

You really are desperate ain'tcha Olive?

Nice try, no coconut!

The McCann's cashed in nicely though didn't they by paying of their mortgage using funds donated by the public for the search for their daughter.

ROSA wrote:The McCann's cashed in nicely though didn't they by paying of their mortgage using funds donated by the public for the search for their daughter.

Exactly.  Methinks they think they're the only ones who are allowed to cash in on poor Maddie's unfortunate fate.


Erm... when I say "cash in" I of course mean work tirelessly and diligently to find their poor dear departed  "abducted" daughter.

Yep, I'm in a playful mood today 

Is there a direct quote from Kate and Gerry McCann?

That would be a breakthrough.

Liz Eagles wrote:Is there a direct quote from Kate and Gerry McCann?

That would be a breakthrough.

The McCanns don't do " direct quotes " do they , that's why they have a spokesman !

I think the tabloid report should read ..

Kate and Gerry McCann slam new theatre play inspired by Maddie's disappearance for 'cashing in' on their inheritance.

Verdi wrote:I think the tabloid report should read ..

Kate and Gerry McCann slam new theatre play inspired by Maddie's disappearance for 'cashing in' on their inheritance.

I think the headline should read...

Kate and Gerry McCann said nothing and a source close to the family said...and then I made up a headline that said SLAMMED after it was passed by a sub editor.

Wilton’s Music Hall sets up campaign to improve theatre acoustics

Far be it for me to suggest it's in need of major renovation.

The show is only running for 5 days, 1st-5th October, hurry and get your tickets whilst stocks last.

Well until one of them cracks we will have to watch funds going into the investigation I think it's on it's last legs , funds will cease soon enough and then the  McCann's can sell their home and use that money  to find her lol

The McCanns are all over it no doubt the obnoxious Clarrie also.