Ray Cooney OBE
Master of Farce
I’ve always been enthusiastic about great writing, and couldn’t be happier to have turned my passion into a thriving career as a professional Author. With digital and online technologies continuing to disrupt the print industry, it's important to provide an accessible place where I can connect with a wider audience. Here you will find samplings of my work, ranging from published stories to more personal pieces, which I invite you to explore and enjoy below.
Ray Cooney began his theatrical career as a boy actor in Song of Norway at the Palace Theatre in 1946. Following a period in repertory theatres around the UK, he joined the Brian Rix Company at the Whitehall Theatre and it was during this period he began his writing career including the West End hits MOVE OVER MRS MARKHAM, RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, TWO INTO ONE, OUT OF ORDER, IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY, FUNNY MONEY, CAUGHT IN THE NET, TOM DICK & HARRY and many more. In 1983, he formed the Theatre of Comedy at the Shaftesbury Theatre and became its first Artistic Director. In February 2013, the film of his most successful play RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, directed by Ray, had its world premier in Leicester Square and has now come out on DVD.
In December 2021, Ray will have been married to the lovely Linda for 60 years (Aaagh!! says Linda).
My Plays
Ray Cooney is The Mill’s hero. Not only did he help us survive those early days of the pandemic, but also every year since 1989 Mill audiences have been entertained by his comedies. It seemed fitting that in the Autumn of 2021 we named the auditorium The Ray Cooney Auditorium. And this year we are presenting one of his funniest plays – FUNNY MONEY.
On the way home one night Henry Perkins, a mild-mannered accountant, picks up the wrong briefcase on the Tube. Inside the briefcase Henry finds, in the place of his usual cheese & pickle sandwich, £1.5million in used notes!
So naturally he decides to flit to sunny Spain with his wife and best friends Vic & Betty. Bliss! But then, enter two coppers. One to arrest him for erratic behaviour in the local pub. The other to ask him to identify the corpse of a murdered man……also called Henry Perkins! Calamity! What ensues is a spiralling confusion of fibs, false names and frantic deceptions.
This hilariously funny West End hit, by the Master of Comedy, is packed with fun and laughs galore. Two hours of inspired comedy bliss that defies you not to laugh out loud.
For the love of Pigeons
Ray Cooney Plays is supporting the following;
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Showstoppers
Currently playing at the Lyric Theatre
Tina - The Musical
Currently playing at the Aldwych Theatre
Back to the Future
Currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre
Moulin Rouge in West End
Currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre
The Seagull
Opens 29th June 2022
at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Sing Street
Opens August 2022
Boston - USA
Macbeth
Currently playing on Broadway
South Pacific
Opens 27th July 2022
at Sadlers Wells
Mrs Doubtfire
Opens 2nd September
Manchester Opera House
Murder on the Orient Express
Currently playing at the Chichester
Festival Theatre
Doctor Who - Time Fracture
Book Tickets
2.22 A Ghost Story
Currently at the Criterion Theatre
Cabaret
Currently at the Kit Kat Club
Playhouse Theatre
Lift - The Musical
Currently playing at the Southark Playhouse
The Da Vinci Code
Currently - UK Tour
Come From Away
Currently playing at the Phoenix Theatre
Pretty Woman
Currently playing at the Savoy Theatre
Beautiful - Tour
Currently Touring
Sister Act
Opens 19th July 2022
at the Apollo - Hammersmith
Tina Turner
Currently playing Broadway
Poland Trip - Krakow - May 2019
The Mill at Sonning
Honoured and humbled The Mill at Sonning are naming their auditorium The Ray Cooney Auditorium when in September at a Gala Performance of 'Two Into One".
Such a great joy seeing Ray Cooney plays performed there over the last 38 years.
Long may it continue .
Love and thanks to Sally Hughes and all at the Mill.
Latest News
Funny Money
The Mill at Sonning - 8th September to 5th November