Mischief Theatre, which has already produced such critically acclaimed pieces as ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, has unleashed a new play.
As the name may suggest, ’The Comedy About a Bank Robbery’, showing at the Criterion Theatre, follows the story of a broke but hopeful protagonist as he attempts to steal a diamond from under the noses of a hilarious cast of characters. The fast-paced slapstick comedy effectively creates an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable farce.
The piece made good use of props and set to accentuate the gags and silliness. In addition, the creative aspect of the production allowed for visually arresting, ingeniously crafted scenes. At one point the audience's perspective is changed in a way that allows the actors to be seen from a birds’ eye view, making the viewer engage with the set in an unexpected way.
Despite this frankly, absurd staging and the hysterics brought about by dialogue the piece does not move smoothly through the gears. When attempting to change from the quick, more light-hearted, scenes to a more sombre and sensitive scene, the audience is left disappointed at the result. The more fragile moments feel rushed as if Mischief wants to get back to the comedy as soon as possible. This results in a partial lack of momentum later on. Moreover, the script appears to borrow references from comedic pop culture including Airplane and Black Adder. This unoriginality, whilst not utterly unfunny, can be predictable. For example, the Bank Manager is named ‘Robin Threeboys’. See any potential puns?
All in all, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the production and would highly recommend it.
