Tag Archives: Allie Dart

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

★★★★

Noël Coward Theatre

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

Noël Coward Theatre

★★★★

“another all-conquering crowd-pleasing triumph”

There’s a reliable joy to a Mischief Company production – a blend of manic precision, cheerful chaos, and the comforting sense that, whatever happens – or doesn’t – you’re in safe hands.

The writing team of Henry Lewis and Henry Shields has formulated a winning blend of mayhem and mirth that has occupied vast swathes of theatre land, with audiences mobbing the box office for a slice of guaranteed hilarity.

With The Comedy About Spies, Mischief once again delivers what it does best: tightly choreographed anarchy, misunderstandings, impeccable farce and groaning puns, this time with a generous helping of 1960s glamour and Bond pastiche.

Under Matt DiCarlo’s direction, confusion begins from the off with agents given letters as names, “Not U – you” “Oh,” says U. “Yes?” says O. Etc.

This code-naming is done “for ease”.

Four Es appear.

Of course they do.

And that’s in the first five minutes.

Where earlier hits mined mishap from amateur dramatics (The Play That Goes Wrong) and pantomime mayhem (Peter Pan Goes Wrong), Spies takes aim at glamorous Cold War espionage thrillers – Bond, Le Carré, and every trench coat cliché in between. The result is another all-conquering crowd-pleasing triumph at a quick-fire pace with an ensemble cast as well drilled as a North Sea oil field.

It’s London 1961. A rogue British agent has stolen plans for a top-secret weapon, setting CIA and KGB agents on a collision course in the faded grandeur of London’s Piccadilly Hotel. Throw in an aspiring actor who thinks he’s auditioning for Bond, a pair of lovers in a relationship crisis, and more double-crosses than a spoiled ballot, and you’ve got a narrative that delights in the possibilities of confusion.

What sets Mischief apart is not just the slapstick but the ensemble’s uncanny ability to make bedlam look effortless. Every tumble, double take and mistaken identity is underpinned by clinical comic timing. For example, a two-up, two-down doll’s house cross section of hotel rooms is a blizzard of multi-dimensional farce which reaches a point of near-hysteria.

The production zips along, bolstered by David Farley’s gorgeous set designs that nod to ’60s spy kitsch – Soho neon, art deco lobbies and moving stage conveyors that give chases the feel of a Pink Panther title sequence.

The Comedy About Spies shows a company still hungry to explore the possibilities of their niche. The pleasure lies not in whether the mission succeeds but in watching it unravel with unashamed silliness.

“Vodka Martini?”
“Yes.”
“Shaken?”
“Yes, but I’ll be fine.”

Groan.

“Have you seen Rosemary?”
“The woman or the herb?”

It just never stops.

The Comedy About Spies delivers laughs. That is what it is designed to do and exactly what it does. It’s as a simple – and as devilishly complicated – as that.



THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

Noël Coward Theatre

Reviewed on 13th May 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Mark Senior

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DR STRANGELOVE | ★★★½ | October 2024
THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE | ★★★★★ | December 2023
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE | ★★★★★ | October 2023
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF MUSICAL | ★★★ | March 2023

 

 

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES

HOMO ALONE

★★★

The Other Palace

HOMO ALONE

The Other Palace

★★★

“The four-person cast was wonderful: consistently strong, committed, and just generally vibesy”

Homo Alone, a Christmas show performing at The Other Palace’s Studio, is, shockingly, an adaptation of the cult classic film Home Alone, but just very gay.

It seems surplus to requirement to summarise the main plot points of the show because you’d be frankly unhinged to have seen this without having already seen the film. And yet: Kevin McAllister (Elliott Evans) is 8 and yet rampantly wrestling with his sexuality – I say ‘rampantly wrestling’ not so much because he is at war with internalised homophobia, but more because he is a very highly sexed 8-year-old. Family dysfunction sees Kevin alone over Christmas, and all hell breaks loose. Look up the film if you need more plot summary.

Written by Jodie Prenger and Bobby Delaney, and directed by Alex Jackson, Homo Alone was an uproarious success with the audience. Their hysterical laughter was an almost constant underscoring. For me, much of the humour felt akin to being wacked in the face by a silicone dildo: not very subtle and largely penis related. Of course, humour is subjective, but constant gags (literally) about the human body and scatological – or scatological adjacent – comedy is really my very least favourite. And it abounded.

Despite this, when other brands of comedy were used, there was much success, especially when the piece leant on absurdism and self-effacing, meta-theatrical commentary. The four-person cast was wonderful: consistently strong, committed, and just generally vibesy – with great singing voices, to boot. Yet, a couple of choices were a misstep: predominantly, the eking out of Catherine O’Hara’s CV. In this adaptation, Kate (Allie Dart) clones Moira Rose (of Schitt’s Creek renown). This was amusing a couple of times, but in the absence of O’Hara, quickly loses its charm. Still, all four actors multi-roled with great finesse – I especially enjoyed Steph Asamoah’s chameleonic switches, from Buzz, to gay air steward Francois, to Celine Dion. And the bird lady from Home Alone 2: this was a real highlight.

Set design (Louie Whitemore) was slick and effective: the neighbouring houses bordering the top of the stage like little pop-up figures was a lovely touch. Many of these auxiliary elements were, in fact, very slick, and when they weren’t, compensation was made through slicker improvisation and poorly stifled giggles.

Such improvisation and poorly stifled giggles were, perhaps, the highlight of the show. Though humour was its focus, the funniest moments – at least for me – were when the cast were confronted with the sheer ridiculousness of the show (a frequent occurrence) and contorted themselves with suppressed laughter. Whilst this was very enjoyable, unplanned moments of silliness generally shouldn’t be the standout hilarity of a show founded upon its silly humour.

One thing I’ve been pondering over is whether the constraints of adaptation weakened the production. Whilst the content of Home Alone is great material for pastiche and adaptation, the plot points this show had to cover and manipulate made it drag somewhat. It was as if they were obligatory but a nuisance, quickly ticked off the theatrical to-do list so they could get back to the singing, dildo wielding, and Moira-impersonating. Good for a Christmas giggle or two, but not the finest seasonal show out there.

 


HOMO ALONE at The Other Palace

Reviewed on 4th December 2024

by Violet Howson

Photography by Mark Senior

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

JULIE: THE MUSICAL | ★★½ | June 2024
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90s MUSICAL | ★★★★ | January 2024
A VERY VERY BAD CINDERELLA | ★★★★ | December 2023
TROMPE L’OEIL | ★★★ | September 2023
DOM – THE PLAY | ★★★★ | February 2023
GHOSTED – ANOTHER F**KING CHRISTMAS CAROL | ★★★★★ | December 2022
GLORY RIDE | ★★★ | November 2022
MILLENNIALS | ★★★ | July 2022

HOMO ALONE

HOMO ALONE

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