The Comedy About A Bank Robbery Review

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – runs until 1st June 2019

Reviewed by Sophie Dodworth

4****

Mischief Theatre are back with their sell out show and arrive at The Lyceum on their penultimate leg of their UK tour. Mischief has come a very long way in a short few years, starting from a group of theatre students. They made their debut at a gig with less people in the audience than on the stage in 2008. Their first production of The Play That Goes Wrong made The West End in 2015 then Broadway in 2017. What an achievement? Well yes but truly deserved, and also what a talented group of writers and actors that appear in their productions, every single show is full of to the brim of gags, laughs and well-suited cast…Mischief are an exquisite example of what a theatre company can and should offer.

Set in 1958 in Minneapolis City Bank, under the gruff and barking-mad management of Robin Freeboys (Damien Lynch). The farcical plot follows the attempted heist of a priceless diamond owned by a Hungarian prince, sought after by a mean and moody escaped convict, Mitch (Liam Jeavons). Along for the ride comes Cooper (David Coomber), one of the most clueless, corrupt guards from the prison Mitch has just fled. They are joined by Caprice (Julia Frith) the gold-digging daughter of Freeboys. Caprice gets the hots for pick-pocket Sam (Sean Carey) even though she is Mitchs’ girl.

From the opening scene right until curtain down, the audience are in stitches. Some almost bent over double kind of hilarious! It is impossible to mention all the best bits as truly there are too many, but really stand out moments have to include impeccably timed slapstick, involving Sams’ attempted concealment above and below a mechanical (and of course malfunctioning) fold-up bed, while Mitch and a reluctant Caprice canoodle. Sam is then forced into impersonating Freeboys for the purpose of Mitch, assisted by Caprice frantically miming clues at him to help save his neck.

The actors on this tour do not disappoint and to be fair, each and every single cast member on the stage gives it their all and they all deserve a mention; but real stand out performances from Carey, he has some real hard work to do with the pace and well-timed execution of his lines. Coomber is perfectly suited to his character, getting laughs at literally every sentence! A fabulous performance from Frith and rather outstanding that this is her professional debut. An extra well done to Jon Trenchard playing long standing office intern Warren Slax…what an actor, as well as laughing at this character, you find yourself really warming to the sweet personality of the unfortunate, gullible, memory loss man!

The set was rather intricate with smooth transitions between scenes and plenty of changeable set to keep the eyes entertained.

Even though this is not marketed as a musical the show is lined with music from the 50s, sung beautifully by the cast, delivering some strong harmonies.

This show really delivers everything that you could want from a comedy but also a sturdy storyline, complete with actors giving performances with gust. Well done Mischief Theatre, you really have delivered again.