Reverend Richard Coles Will Embark On UK Tour

The Reverend Richard Coles is set to embark on a brand new UK Tour, Borderline National Trinket, from 7th September to 3rd December 2023. The run includes some of the UK's most iconic venues such as Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Leeds' City Varieties Music Hall and The Lowry in Salford.

The first vicar to appear on Strictly Come Dancing. The only vicar to have had a number one hit. The inspiration for a popular sitcom (on which he was a consultant). A fixture on national television and radio, the long-time host of Saturday Live, a Celebrity Masterchef contestant, latterly a bestselling writer.

Occasionally the job of summarising someone's life in a press release is almost impossible. Indeed, we doubt he'll be able to do it justice even in an entire evening. But what is guaranteed is that it will be hugely entertaining to watch him try.

Having passed the age of 60 and stepped away from clerical duties, Richard is - as the pyjamas and cuppa suggest - technically retired. Why, then, is he as busy as he's ever been in his life? It didn't help that his memoir of loss, The Madness Of Grief, was a huge bestseller, transfixing readers with its honesty and insight. Nor that he then went and wrote a novel, Murder Before Evensong, which reached number one in the paperback charts, meaning that he's had to write another one (A Death In The Parish).

Oh, he's also the Chancellor of Northampton University. Of course he is.

And now - after years as a coveted after-dinner speaker - the (retired) Rev embarks on his first full tour of the country, presenting a warm, witty, gossipy evening of comedy and chat. Impatient Productions are truly proud to unleash the talent and personality of a man who, if anyone does, surely deserves the title of national treasure. Although, being Richard, he's happier with the billing his late partner suggested: borderline national trinket. Whatever label you put on him, this is a tour not to be missed - and that comes directly from God Himself*.

*Richard would like to stress that he does not in fact have the authority to make this claim.

Reverend Richard Coles is a former pop star as one half of 1980s band The Communards, turned Church of England vicar, broadcaster and bestselling author. Until retirement in 2022, he was a parish priest in the quintessentially English village of Finedon, Northamptonshire, where two of his ancestors were vicars in the seventeenth century. During the 1980s The Communards had three UK Top 10 hits, including Never Can Say Goodbye and the biggest selling single of 1986, Don't Leave Me This Way. This, therefore, affords Richard the unique position of being the only vicar to have had a No.1 hit record.

Richard co-presented BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live from 2011-2023 and is also a regular contributor to Pause for Thought on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He is a frequent guest panellist on shows such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You? and QI.

Often described as Britain's most famous vicar, Reverend Richard Coles was the inspiration for the main character in the BBC hit comedy Rev, a programme for which he also served as consultant. In 2017, he was a contestant on the BBC's BAFTA-winning prime-time show Strictly Come Dancing, and the year previous he was a semi-finalist on Celebrity Masterchef. He has a keen interest in classical music, art and ceramics, and co-hosted the BBC's Big Painting Challenge alongside Mariella Frostrup in 2017 and 2018. In 2022, he presented Good Grief?, a Channel 4 documentary exploring the subject of how to live positively with grief.

As a prolific author, Reverend Richard Coles has written six books including three memoirs; the bestselling Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went From Pop to Pulpit (2014), Bringing in The Sheaves: Wheat and Chaff from My Years as a Priest (2016) and Sunday Times best-sellers The Madness of Grief (2021) and Murder Before Evensong (2022).

Tour Dates

Thursday 7th September 2023

Havant

Spring Arts

Friday 8th September 2023

Horsham

The Capitol

Saturday 9th September 2023

Henley On Thames

Kenton Theatre

Tuesday 12th September 2023

Cardiff

Sherman Theatre

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Carmarthen

Lyric Theatre

Sunday 17th September 2023

Kettering

Kettering Arts Centre

Tuesday 19th September 2023

Chorley

Chorley Theatre

Wednesday 20th September 2023

Chorley

Chorley Theatre

Thursday 21st September 2023

Chelmsford

Civic Theatre

Wednesday 27th September 2023

Bury St Edmunds

Theatre Royal

Thursday 28th September 2023

Norwich

Norwich Playhouse

Sunday 1st October 2023

Winchester

Theatre Royal

Wednesday 4th October 2023

High Wycombe

Old Town Hall

Thursday 26th October 2023

Milton Keynes

The Stables

Sunday 29th October 2023

Colchester

Colchester Arts Centre

Monday 30th October 2023

Swindon

Wyvern Theatre

Wednesday 1st November 2023

Blackheath, London

Blackheath Halls

Friday 3rd November 2023

Loughborough

Loughborough Town Hall

Saturday 4th November 2023

Cheltenham

Cheltenham Town Hall

Sunday 5th November 2023

Bath

Komedia

Friday 10th November 2023

Brighton

Brighton Dome Concert Hall

Sunday 12th November 2023

Leeds

City Varieties Music Hall

Wednesday 15th November 2023

Exeter

Corn Exchange

Thursday 16th November 2023

Plymouth

The Quad Theatre

Sunday 19th November 2023

Guildford

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Tuesday 21st November 2023

Hayes

The Beck Theatre

Sunday 26th November 2023

Southend on Sea

Palace Theatre

Saturday 2nd December 2023

Crewe

Crewe Lyceum

Sunday 3rd December 2023

Salford

The Lowry

To post a comment, you must register and login.