Mischief Theatre hits the spot – and then hits it again, and again – with this daft (but expertly choreographed) comedy in which once again just about everything that can go wrong does, but in a more sophisticated manner than in their previous work. With their surprise hit, the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, still running in the West End, I’d happily bet that this new 50’s crime caper spoof from Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields – with its clever combination of cumulative puns, mistaken identities, farcical slapstick and running gags – will still be going strong well past its current booking period.
With the hindering “help” of a gormless security guard with Thespian aspirations, violent convict Mitch (Shields) is sprung from the penitentiary and sets off to steal a priceless gem from the Minneapolis City Bank which just happens to be managed by his girlfriend Caprice’s father (Lewis’s Robin Freeboys). Meanwhile a resourceful Caprice (Charlie Russell) has been fleecing a trio of hapless admirers and has just hooked up with local pickpocket Sam who finds his criminal activities escalating when Mitch turns up out of the blue.
Laugh builds upon laugh and a brief summary can’t do justice to the sheer varied inventiveness of Mark Bell’s fluent production. So give yourself a treat and grab a ticket to see Sayer’s lovesick Warren (67 years old and still an intern), Dave Hearn’s agile Sam risking life andlimb under, over and alongside a foldaway bed, a handful of seagulls, and the rest of the well-drilled cast who not only keep the fun flowing but sing rather sweetly too, even when hanging upside down in a bank vault.
Criterion
218-223 Piccadilly Circus, W1V 9LB
Tube: Piccadilly Circus
£20 – £49.50 (+ Premium Seats)
Currently Booking to 2nd October
