The Comedy About Spies - Review

Noel Coward Theatre, London

*****

Written by Henry Lewis and Henry Shields

Directed by Matt DiCarlo

The cast of The Comedy About Spies

The Comedy About Spies is the latest hilarious epic from the Mischief Theatre crew. Written by and featuring Mischief’s architects Henry Lewis and Henry Shields, the play sees a madcap plot unravel.

Think of the movies and a fusion of the action of James Bond and Die Hard combined with the comic craft of Airplane, and you begin to get close to the genius of this drama, where England in 1961 is the backdrop to espionage and skullduggery between the USA & the USSR over a Top Secret file.

The plot’s details are of course ridiculous (including an American agent accompanied on his mission by his overbearing mother!) and riddled with double-agents’ trickery but the narrative here is but a mere excuse to display some of the West End's finest comedy.

Slick tongue-twisting dialogue, outstanding punning, immaculately timed physical comedy and slapstick all merge to deliver an evening of first class farce from the cast of eight.

Not only that but David Farley’s set design is a work of art itself. Set in a hotel we see actors fall between floors in brilliantly designed, hilarious stunts, while a thrilling escape into the hotel’s lift-shaft has to be seen to be believed.

Directed by Matt DiCarlo, this is world-class theatre that is performed to the highest standards of discipline, yet which always appears to have its tongue firmly in its cheek - the hallmark of comedy done to perfection!

Runs until 5th September