One Of Our Ducks Is Missing

By Rob Last edited 221 months ago
One Of Our Ducks Is Missing
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So last week we carried the story about the West End show Ducktastic and the fact that the opening had to be delayed because the ducks hadn't quite got to grips with some of the tricks they were being asked to perform on stage.

And now today we hear that the star of the show has 'flown the coop'... or, in other words, someone has half-inched the duck.

We agree, it sounds like a publicity stunt. But according to today's Telegraph theatre producer David Pugh is "adamant" that Daphne the duck really has disappeared:

Mr Pugh said she was stolen late on Monday after a preview of the comedy.

With 45 co-stars of the same species, all in separate cages, she had been set down inside the stage door waiting to be taken to the home of their trainer in Uxbridge, west London, where the ducks rest between shows.

A member of the public found Daphne's cage half an hour later two streets away in Covent Garden. But there was no sign of Daphne.

A Scotland Yard spokesman (we're not making this up) is quoted as saying: "At this stage we are treating it as a burglary but we don't have much to go on. Perhaps it's on the river. And I suppose we'll soon be getting reports of sightings in Chinatown."

In the meantime, Londonist has heard that several high-profile celebrity ducks such as Count Duckula, Ed the Duck and Orville, are currently in talks with union officials to make sure that this kind of thing can never be allowed to happen again.

Last Updated 19 October 2005