Tag Archives: Deborah Andrews

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

HOUSE OF GAMES

★★★

Hampstead Theatre

HOUSE OF GAMES

Hampstead Theatre

★★★

“diverting, packed with plot, character and incident”

Writer Richard Bean’s stage version of House of Games, directed by Jonathan Kent, is a theatrical sleight-of-hand that both honours and undercuts its source. Adapted from David Mamet’s 1987 film and story, the play tries to pull off a double con: replicating the clipped tension of Mamet’s neo-noir while layering in jokes, cartoonish supporting characters, and a dash of caper comedy.

The result, though often entertaining, is tonally confused – a production unsure whether it wants to unsettle or amuse.

The story follows Margaret (Lisa Dillon), a buttoned-up Harvard clinical psychoanalyst and successful writer. Bored with her uptown life, she becomes embroiled in the seductive world of low-rent grifters after she tries to rescue a client Billy Hahn (Oscar Lloyd) from a gambling debt.

She enters the titular House of Games – a down-at-heel Chicago bar – and meets smooth Mike, (Richard Harrington) a charming hustler whose world of deceit both appals and excites her. Margaret is inspired to research another book which provides her with an excuse to hang around and (improbably) play bit parts in Mike’s cons, a transgression fuelled by a growing passion for her bad boy lover.

As the scams multiply, so do the psychological twists, leading to a final turn that should, in theory, leave the audience reeling.

But where Mamet’s film presented its narrative with razor-edged minimalism – quick cuts, shadows, tight silences – the stage version feels the need to say everything out loud, slowly and with a chirpy smile.

The introduction of a broad comic sidekicks and the abundance of wisecracks contribute to an atmosphere closer to a sub-Ocean’s 11 pastiche than a psychological thriller. The quipping gang have plenty of character to play with – Robin Soans’ veteran Joey particularly fun – but the gags come at the expense of any menace and tension.

Bean’s script confines all the action to just two locations and designer Ashley Martin-Davis pursues the trend for double-decker stages, the clinical therapist’s office above, the sleazy, dimly lit bar below.

While the con-games themselves are nicely choreographed, they are also well telegraphed. And, by now, Bean’s boosterish urges have erased all thoughts of Mamet’s moral bleakness.

For all its inconsistencies, the production is diverting, packed with plot, character and incident.

The audience, like Margaret, is willingly drawn into the performance’s web of duplicity. There’s a sly thematic resonance here: theatre itself is a con, asking viewers to believe in fictions. This adaptation leans into that idea, sometimes too heavily, but never without flair.

The tricks may be familiar, but the ride is fun.



HOUSE OF GAMES

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 12th May 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Manuel Harlan

 

 

 

 

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

PERSONAL VALUES | ★★★ | April 2025
APEX PREDATOR | ★★ | March 2025
THE HABITS | ★★★★★ | March 2025
EAST IS SOUTH | ★★★ | February 2025
AN INTERROGATION | ★★★★ | January 2025
KING JAMES | ★★★★ | November 2024
VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN | ★★ | July 2024
THE DIVINE MRS S | ★★★★ | March 2024
DOUBLE FEATURE | ★★★★ | February 2024
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | ★★★★ | December 2023

 

 

HOUSE OF GAMES

HOUSE OF GAMES

HOUSE OF GAMES