User:Realdealtheatre/Swimming Naked!

'''Swimming Naked! A Farce For Our Financial Times''' is a one-act play by English journalist and playwright Alice Josephs which ran from Tuesday March 31 to Saturday April 4 2009 at Barons Court Theatre in London, UK. The production was directed by Catherine Arden and starred Catherine Potter, Maggie Robson and Mark Shaer.

Inspired by disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, the play is set in the London penthouse of fictional Ponzi fraudster Paul Stone who is at the centre of a media frenzy after being questioned by police. He finds himself waylaid by a pizza delivery boy who is not all he seems to be and an investment fund manager. And everyone wants their money back.

The title comes from Warren Buffett's aphorism about financial crises, 'It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked'.

Other crew included designer Amy Cartwright, stage manager and assistant designer Will Seaward and Annabel Grundy on lighting and sound. The voice of the radio news broadcaster was provided by Paddy Gormley. The play was filmed by Michelle Brooks on the last performance of the run.

The play was part of the 'Three Plays Singular New Writing Festival', a triple bill with writer/actor Benjie Dudgeon and writer Mike Carter.

In October 2010 it became generally known a new movie, Tower Heist, also inspired by Bernie Madoff, was due to start shooting for release in 2011. It is not connected with the play Swimming Naked!. It also has the luxury penthouse of a Ponzi fraudster as its focus.