Cartoon strip character Alex, at the Arts Theatre from 11 Oct 2007 starring Robert Bathurst

Cartoon strip character Alex, at the Arts Theatre from 11 Oct 2007 starring Robert Bathurst

A stage adaptation of the cartoon strip character Alex, starring Robert Bathurst will open at the Arts Theatre 18 Oct 2007, following previews from 11 Oct - running to 8 Dec 2007

Public Booking opens on Monday 23 Jul 2007

Alex is a city institution. His cartoon about life in the City of London appears every day on the front-page of the Daily Telegraph Business section. Alex's creators, Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, have now written a play which brings the country's "favourite obnoxious, not to mention devious and manipulative", cartoon investment banker to life. Robert Bathurst takes the title role in this 75-minute show, which will be directed by Phelim McDermott.

Digital projection will allow Alex (Robert Bathurst), on stage, to interact with Charles Peattie's animations of Alex's world which will feature all of the familiar characters from the cartoon; his sidekick Clive, boss Rupert, graduate trainees, bibulous journalists, shady financial PR men, and freeloading industrialists.

Alex finds it increasingly difficult to juggle his job, his marriage and his social life as crisis hits all three and threatens to ruin him. He's in trouble with his long-suffering wife Penny, who has finally turned the tables on him. The business fortunes of his client, Mr Hardcastle, drastically unravel and Alex is to blame. Meanwhile, the scams and skivings which Alex has made his way of life over the years are about to be revealed by a mole in his department. Alex faces abject humiliation unless he can stitch up his rivals first.

Alex began life on the City pages of the London Daily News in February 1987 and chronicled the lives of the Big Bang wealth generation. The paper soon ceased publishing but Alex was eagerly headhunted by Fleet Street, eventually accepting an offer from The Independent, where he stayed for four years. In 1992 he treacherously defected to The Daily Telegraph where he has appeared ever since.

Robert Bathurst is best known for his role as David Marsden in the ITV series Cold Feet. His stage performances include roles in Three Sisters alongside Kristin Scott-Thomas, and Hedda Gabler, alongside Francesca Annis. He was most recently seen in Steve Thompson's political comedy, Whipping it Up, at the Bush Theatre, which transferred to the Ambassadors Theatre in February.