The Comedy About Spies ★★★★★

The track record of Mischief theatre company is littered with award-winning creations. With The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Comedy about A Bank Robbery, and Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, they have finely honed the art of going wrong in all the right ways. In their latest production, The Comedy About Spies, they have constructed a breathless farce around Cold War espionage which is so relentlessly ingenious, your Martinis certainly will be shaken!

The plot – hang on to your rosewood umbrellas and olive Trilbies – begins, in 1961, with a rogue British spy absconding with blueprints for a classified weapon, Project Midnight, igniting a frantic chase that draws operatives from MI6, the CIA, and the KGB in hot pursuit. As the agents converge on the Piccadilly Hotel in search of the stolen plans, things are naturally complicated further by the presence of booming thespian Douglas Woodbead (an irresistibly fruity performance by the sublime Henry Lewis). He has arrived at the hotel in order to audition for the film role of…you guessed it…James Bond! Adding to the confusion, there’s also a young couple staying at the hotel – he, with the intention to propose, and she, planning to break up the relationship.

The multiplicity of comedy styles are deployed faster than an Aston Martin revving into action to create uproariously bonkers adventure. There is wordplay and puns. They refashion Abbott and Costello’s classic Who’s On First routine to lampoon Ian Fleming’s alphabetical agent designation at MI6 to superb effect. There’s dialogue brimming with unalloyed silliness. “It’s always the person you least expect…” “…Jesus?“

But perhaps it is the physical comedy of The Comedy About Spies that is truly exceptional. As the secret agents attempt to bug the rooms of the enemy camp, David Farley‘s beatifully-clear set offers the perfect playground for many impeccably-timed visual gags. There is one of the most hilarious, unexpected visual gags featuring CIA agent Lance Buchanan (a brilliantly earnest but hapless Dave Hearn) and some rope that is so immaculately executed, it’s guaranteed to bring the house down every night.

The sheer energy and talent of the eight-strong ensemble sustains the dizzying momentum throughout – ensuring a comedic soufflé rather than a scrambled frittata. Don’t look for this riotous Cold War romp to have anything to say about contemporary international politics or the increase of global surveillance. The Comedy About Spies is belly-laugh filled fun. And if a cross between Noises Off, Fawlty Towers and Johnny English sounds your kind of thing, I spy the perfect show for you!