Listen very carefully, for I will say this only once: taped to the bottom of the device where you are reading this is a tiny box. Inside the box is a microfilm containing my review of The Comedy About Spies… There are enemies everywhere who would love to get their hands on this sensitive information. It’s up to you, agent, to save the world and read the review! We’re all counting on you!
Blimey, that was intense! Almost as intense as the wonderfully silly scene at MI6 that opens The Comedy About Spies. The gag involves confusion with agents having code names that are single letters, leading to silly moments like the director saying “I see, why?” and agents I, C, and Y rushing in simultaneously. It’s quick, perfectly timed, and sets the scene hilariously for what’s to come.
This is Mischief Theatre doing a full-on spy spoof – notably different from their famous “Goes Wrong” series. I’ve never seen The Play That Goes Wrong, but from what I gather, those shows are about amateur actors with collapsing sets and audience interactions. This isn’t that. Instead, it’s a polished, professional farce with clever stagecraft, detailed sets, and a structured narrative.
Set in 1960s Cold War Britain, it’s a joyous pastiche of classic spy thrillers – think Get Smart, Johnny English, or a parody of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – stylised, self-aware, and gleefully daft. The show’s primary location is the luxurious Piccadilly Hotel, brilliantly brought to life by David Farley’s impeccable set design. Although the hotel action begins in the beautiful art deco lobby, the characters soon go up to their various rooms, and that’s where Farley’s true masterpiece is seen – a cross-section view of 4 hotel rooms, two up, two down, allowing quick switches between rooms, eaves-dropping spies, and a whole lot of mad-cap fun!
The entire cast is superb and each character is distinctly hilarious. Dave Hearn is excellent as CIA agent Lance Buchanan, whose retired-agent mother Janet (Nancy Zamit) has insisted on helping him with his mission and hilariously babies him throughout. Zamit maintains a thick Bronx accent and, like all the Mischief veterans, has impeccable comedic timing.
Henry Shields plays Bernard Wright, a completely clueless bakery owner, who only wanted to surprise his girlfriend, Rosemary, on her work weekend away, and is mistakenly drawn into the spy intrigue, forever misunderstanding acronyms like KGB as the “Kent Guild of Breadmakers.” Adele James provides a perfect straight foil as Rosemary, the sensible character amid all the madness, who just wants to have a serious conversation with Bernard, and hopefully make it to her work do, later that day.
Greg Tannahill shines as Albert Tipton, the hapless hotel manager hilariously caught in the chaos and attempting to subtly return an engagement ring to Bernard, providing countless opportunities for misunderstandings and hilarity.
Chris Leask and Charlie Russell are the Russian agents. Leask delivers exceptional physical comedy as Sergei Ivanov, the Russian spy desperate for friendship and frequently found fighting with himself. Sergei has worked hard on the back story for his deep cover and feels compelled to tell everyone his (Tim the Spleen surgeon’s) entire fake life story! Charlie Russell portrays Elena Popov, Sergei’s exasperated partner, adding a layer of deadpan brilliance to their scenes.
Henry Lewis rounds out the cast delightfully as Douglas Woodbead (“the cricketer?”), a self-important, virtually unknown actor preparing for a Bond audition and expecting a pair of Americans to arrive to audition him! Hmmm… a set up for more misunderstandings and hilarity, possibly? Ya think?
Physical comedy is razor-sharp throughout, with people – and birds – falling out of cupboards, crashing through ceilings, being dragged up through the floor, out of windows, you name a spy-movie cliché and it’s probably in there! I think my favourite repeated gag is when the American agents misunderstand Woodbead’s practice Bond lines about a booby trapped bottle of Shiraz, and then throughout the play, every time they see a bottle of wine, they yell “SHIRAZ” and hurl it out of a window. It’s never not funny and has a delightful payoff later in the play.
The lighting by Johanna Town is note perfect, enhancing everything from the shifting hotel room gags to the awesome train scene, and everything in between. A 1960s setting of course needs everyone to look the part, and Deborah Andrews costume and Suzanne Scotcher’s wigs are fabulously on point, nailing the 60s period feel without ever looking caricatured.
Equally of note is the music. The music is exactly what you’d expect form a 1960s TV spy drama, with Jon Fiber perfectly punctuating every scene with plenty of sax, bass, and instantly recognisable musical tropes. One musical moment that absolutely slayed, is a clever sequence involving Bernard navigating a corridor on a moving walkway. The doors are sliding past him as he walks, and on 3 of these trips down the corridor we see Albert – the hotel manager – hilariously playing various musical instruments, getting bigger each time. This scene exemplifies the show’s inventive staging and commitment to hilarity.
A ’blink and you’ll miss it’ Easter egg is thrown for Mischief Theatre fans, during the play’s final quarter – a newspaper headline reads “Diamond Thief Monaghan Held In London“. Now I’d heard of The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, and that headline seemed too conspicuous to be random, so I jotted it down to look into later…Sure enough, it’s a reference to Sam Monaghan from their previous show. Nicely, done Mischief, nicely done.
While not every joke lands perfectly, and the pacing slightly dips after the stellar opening, these minor quibbles hardly matter. The audience was consistently roaring with laughter, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s an absurd, stylish, and brilliantly executed comedy, bursting with spy clichés, clever gags, and perfectly timed pratfalls.
Mischief fans and newcomers alike will love it. It’s sharp, silly, impeccably performed, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. Miss it at your peril!
This review will self destruct in 10 seconds… Unless you click the below link, and book to see The Comedy About Spies before this genius show closes on 5th September, 2025!
Tickets from theatreticketsdirect.co.uk/
Words by Nick Barr
Photos by Mark Senior
