Last Quiz Night on Earth kicks off north west tour in Cheetham Hill

In true Brit style, Alison Carr reckons we’d spend those final hours doing the weekly quiz down at our local pub.

Or at least that’s the tale of her new play The Last Quiz Night on Earth.

You can now get the chance to experience those final hours as the immersive play kicks off its postponed 2020 tour of the north west this week.

Unlike many traditional shows, The Last Quiz Night on Earth will tour in everyday local venues across the country including pubs and village halls, starting with the Derby Brewery Arms in Cheetham.

Explaining her vision for the production, Alison says: “I wanted to combine the known and the unknown, the safe and the downright terrifying.

“My vision was to create something that audiences don’t just sit and watch but are part of – but not in a scary way.

“A quiz is something we can all do.” 

The Northern Quota sat down with cast members Chris Hoyle and Matthew Khan to get the lowdown on the ultimate quiz night. Spoiler alert: they wouldn’t let us in on the answers.

For Hoyle, who has worked as a playwright for the past decade, the show marks his first acting role in more than 15 years.

Starring alongside him, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) graduate Khan takes on the all-important role of quizmaster, Rav.

Chris, what made you decide to go from writing the script to learning it?

“It’s been coming for a while. I trained as an actor and it never really leaves you.

“I love being in the rehearsal room as a writer, as a director but I’ve kind of always wanted to be in the actor’s shoes for a while, so it’s been a great opportunity to finally do it.”

Just how immersive is the play? Will audiences really get to take part in a live pub quiz?

Chris: “It’s a great play to come with a group because you come as a pub team, they do answer real questions and there are real rounds.”

Matt: “That’s one of the cool things about this play: it changes depending on your audience and the venue that we’re going to be in.

Tell us a bit about your characters: what would be their specialist round in a pub quiz?

Chris: “Well, my character, Bobby, he doesn’t even want to be at the quiz from the word off, so he’s quite reluctant to take part in it.

“But he’s very good at film and television questions and he does get quite pleased with himself when he get the answers.

“He has basically set off and ran for seven hours go to and see his sister at this point, so for the entrance I’ll have to do a few star jumps and get myself a bit out breath before I come crashing in.”

Matt: “Rav particularly likes to be in control. He likes to be centre of the attention, he likes to be in the spotlight. 

“I’m more mellow in general, so I just need to find a way to get into taking up that big space. The moments where the mask drops though, those are the interesting points for me.”

Although not quite the end of the world, the feelings of the pandemic weren’t too far removed from this. What are the main messages of the play you hope audiences will take away with them?

Matt: “A lot of people have reconnected with their family and friends, people they haven’t seen in year,s because they kinda realised what might be more important. And so some of those themes are gonna turn up in this piece too and I think that’s something that people will take away from it as well.”

Chris: “I mean what would you do in the last two hours of your life if you knew the world was ending?”

Matt: “Would you do a pub quiz?”

Chris: “Keep calm, carry on, do a pub quiz”

The Last Quiz Night on Earth tour venues from 23 February-3 April.