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
