One of the earliest David Tennant stage plays that most of his fans are aware of is 1989’s The Ghost Of Benjy O’Neil. There are very few references to it online. The play is listed as the first entry in the Stage section of the List Of David Tennant Performances
Oh, Robert, thank you so much! Since you were there at that iconic Glasgow theatre that evening, I will take your very knowledgeable word for it that the photo in question is indeed of David. I can't believe I found the photo to begin with, and I'm doubly glad it's now authenticated. Cheers, and have a wonderful rest of your day!
OMG!!!! I was in the show with David. We toured, met the Queen and Prince Phillip at the Citizens Theatre, even took the show to Ireland. Wow, such memories. Thank you
And Yes, that is David stood behind me whilst Prince Philip stood to talk for a moment.
The Royal couple came on the stage and worked their way around all the performers from the left to the right of the stage. I'd love to see more pictures if you have any
Christine!! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to speak to you further about your experiences in 'The Ghost Of Benjy O'Neil'! If you'd be willing to do so, please feel free to contact me at atennantcytoact@gmail.com!
I will be in touch. I am honestly so glad I fell across this while looking for Eleanor and Mercedes (who I still have not found) in my search for some old rehearsals pictures. I will send you an email
Literally amazing in every way possible-- I have no idea how you manage to dig up so much info time and time again. I'm a massive sucker for David's musical work in particular and it sucks that there probably isn't any footage of this play (let alone specifically of him singing), but it's so fascinating to know that it happened! Thanks for repeatedly putting in all this work to get the obscure info to us fans :)
It's a labor of love, believe me...for many reasons. I love research and history, I love ferreting out details, sifting through libraries and archives, and discovering what's there. And I'm a fan of David's work. But I also do it not only because I think David's a generational talent, but because as time goes on, the people who experienced these early years and can tell us what happened are getting older, too. What can be documented needs to be documented, now....before it's truly gone.
Yes, absolutely! I love his Dr. Who and many other series but l am so impressed with his theater career. I love Shakespeare and am so happy with what l have seen of him in the productions that were filmed. I would love to see him perform in Macbeth in the fall. Highly unlikely, due to my schedule but it would be wonderful! He has immense talent. Thanks!
Oh my goodness yes, he's such a talent! If you live in London or can visit regularly, many of his plays are archived at the V&A and the National Theatre (you can find which ones on the Resources post I have pinned to the middle of my page) - though at the moment, the V&A is moving their theatre holdings to a new London facility so archival viewing there won't be available until sometime in 2025. And if you can get to Stratford, many of his RSC plays are archived at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
I've seen many of these plays and highly recommend them. Although I'm American, I've made these viewings an essential part of my London trips - for enjoyment as well as research purposes. Win/win!
I hope to continue to offer the most interesting details about David's career. I'm working on a five-part series about his unaired pilot of 'Only Human' - that's going to be amazing as well. I'm really excited about it!
What an exciting 'new' chapter to now have documented for all time! The work you've been doing for is just incredible, and certainly rewarding for all of us and future fans of David's work and theater as a whole.
Your writing draws us in, wanting to know more, and you always seem to have it for us! I know you often find other productions we, and you(!), have never even heard of before in the course of your research - I think your job is guaranteed for a good many more years, as is, thankfully our education.
[Glad you mentioned the Duke - I hadn't even noticed him, and it makes sense now, why David's looking away from the Queen! (I'm convinced it's him - he's the only David looking figure there ;-)
I'm not sure how convinced I am the photo is of David in the crowd - hmm.....about 50/50? LOL! But it would be really cool if it were. And yeah, David's prolific work even as a youngster will keep me in research mode for many, many years to come.
Isn't it? - and you're quite welcome! This part of David's career has been my particular focus for over a decade, so getting to share even the smallest part of it is quite exciting for me. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
So well written that I felt I was present in that iconic Glasgow theatre and I can confirm that the ear was indeed Davids!
Thoroughly enjoyed Patti.☘️
Oh, Robert, thank you so much! Since you were there at that iconic Glasgow theatre that evening, I will take your very knowledgeable word for it that the photo in question is indeed of David. I can't believe I found the photo to begin with, and I'm doubly glad it's now authenticated. Cheers, and have a wonderful rest of your day!
OMG!!!! I was in the show with David. We toured, met the Queen and Prince Phillip at the Citizens Theatre, even took the show to Ireland. Wow, such memories. Thank you
And Yes, that is David stood behind me whilst Prince Philip stood to talk for a moment.
The Royal couple came on the stage and worked their way around all the performers from the left to the right of the stage. I'd love to see more pictures if you have any
Christine!! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to speak to you further about your experiences in 'The Ghost Of Benjy O'Neil'! If you'd be willing to do so, please feel free to contact me at atennantcytoact@gmail.com!
I will be in touch. I am honestly so glad I fell across this while looking for Eleanor and Mercedes (who I still have not found) in my search for some old rehearsals pictures. I will send you an email
I look forward to hearing from you, and if I'm lucky, I think I will able to assist you in your search!
And do please let me know if my email address isn't working for you, so I can provide another!
Literally amazing in every way possible-- I have no idea how you manage to dig up so much info time and time again. I'm a massive sucker for David's musical work in particular and it sucks that there probably isn't any footage of this play (let alone specifically of him singing), but it's so fascinating to know that it happened! Thanks for repeatedly putting in all this work to get the obscure info to us fans :)
It's a labor of love, believe me...for many reasons. I love research and history, I love ferreting out details, sifting through libraries and archives, and discovering what's there. And I'm a fan of David's work. But I also do it not only because I think David's a generational talent, but because as time goes on, the people who experienced these early years and can tell us what happened are getting older, too. What can be documented needs to be documented, now....before it's truly gone.
Yes, absolutely! I love his Dr. Who and many other series but l am so impressed with his theater career. I love Shakespeare and am so happy with what l have seen of him in the productions that were filmed. I would love to see him perform in Macbeth in the fall. Highly unlikely, due to my schedule but it would be wonderful! He has immense talent. Thanks!
Oh my goodness yes, he's such a talent! If you live in London or can visit regularly, many of his plays are archived at the V&A and the National Theatre (you can find which ones on the Resources post I have pinned to the middle of my page) - though at the moment, the V&A is moving their theatre holdings to a new London facility so archival viewing there won't be available until sometime in 2025. And if you can get to Stratford, many of his RSC plays are archived at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
I've seen many of these plays and highly recommend them. Although I'm American, I've made these viewings an essential part of my London trips - for enjoyment as well as research purposes. Win/win!
Thanks so much for the information and the suggestions!!
Wonderful research! Thank you!!
You're quite welcome! David's theatre career - especially (to me) his early theatre - is so very interesting, isn't it?
Wow! This is very interesting. I can't wait to read more! Thank you!
I hope to continue to offer the most interesting details about David's career. I'm working on a five-part series about his unaired pilot of 'Only Human' - that's going to be amazing as well. I'm really excited about it!
What an exciting 'new' chapter to now have documented for all time! The work you've been doing for is just incredible, and certainly rewarding for all of us and future fans of David's work and theater as a whole.
Your writing draws us in, wanting to know more, and you always seem to have it for us! I know you often find other productions we, and you(!), have never even heard of before in the course of your research - I think your job is guaranteed for a good many more years, as is, thankfully our education.
[Glad you mentioned the Duke - I hadn't even noticed him, and it makes sense now, why David's looking away from the Queen! (I'm convinced it's him - he's the only David looking figure there ;-)
I'm not sure how convinced I am the photo is of David in the crowd - hmm.....about 50/50? LOL! But it would be really cool if it were. And yeah, David's prolific work even as a youngster will keep me in research mode for many, many years to come.
Thanks for writing this; it's fascinating.
Isn't it? - and you're quite welcome! This part of David's career has been my particular focus for over a decade, so getting to share even the smallest part of it is quite exciting for me. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!