Fleabag is back! If you didn’t manage to get tickets for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one-woman stage show (they’re harder to come by than attractive priests) then you’re in luck - we’re showing it live on the big screen this September. And whaddya know, Fleabag’s Hot Priest will also be gracing our screens this autumn. Not in Fleabag, though (hence one-woman stage show.). He’s starring in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, captured live from The Old Vic. Andrew Scott plays Garry Essendine, a character who is, essentially, the male Fleabag. Here’s why.
Fleabag and Garry both, er, get around
Fleabag’s brutal honesty about her bedroom (and alley way and supermarket) antics echoes Garry’s revolving door policy on partners. He just can’t help being so desirable.
The writers wrote the parts for themselves to play
Noel Coward wrote Garry as a caricature of himself and was the first to play him on the stage; and can you imagine any actor other than Phoebe Waller-Bridge pulling off Fleabag?Charm, charm and more charm
Neither character is particularly likeable on paper, but their twinkling charm will have you rooting for them even as they admit to some truly depraved behaviour.
Identity crises and dark humour
Grief, turning 40, an imaginary friend hanging on your every word: both Fleabag and Garry are grappling with deep existential questions. But, like, in a funny way.Complex relationships galore
There are no straight-forward relationships for Fleabag, just as Garry struggles to juggle his wife, several rather full-on admirers, an over-eager playwright and his long-suffering secretary.Iconic looks
Was Garry Essendine???s iconic dressing gown the Fleabag jumpsuit of its day? Both outfits do offer a similar hint of chest.
Interesting seating
Self-explanatory, really.

Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life.

NT Live: Fleabag
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Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott (BBC???s Sherlock, Fleabag) in Noël Coward???s provocative comedy Present Laughter.

NT Live: Present Laughter
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What else have the Fleabag cast got coming up?
- Andrew Scott is keeping busy: he’s also going to be in 1917, the WWI drama directed by Sam Mendes
- Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been called into jazz up the Bond 25 screenplay (out next year)
- You can catch Bill Paterson (Fleabag’s dad) in Ben Wheatley’s upcoming adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca