Review: Zany ‘The Comedy About Spies’ at Noël Coward Theatre
- Anita W. Harris
- Aug 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 17
British theatrical troupe Mischief has set its sights on the Cold War with its newest production, “The Comedy About Spies” — though “comedy” is an understatement. The play is not only laugh-out-loud funny but unrelentingly quick and dense with its verbal and physical gags while still delivering characters one cares about.
As with its previous productions — most notably The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, both of which have toured the U.S. — the Mischief team has an uncanny ability to send up theatre by defying expectations in the most zany ways. The only difference with this show is that it’s not in the “goes wrong” genre but a spy story with more twists than James Bond in a martini shaker.
After a rapid-fire punny introduction involving MI6 agents with alphabet code names such as Y and U — generating endless misunderstandings that somehow elicits laughs rather than eyerolls — most of the rest of the plot takes place in a hotel where a secret weapon is suspected to be secretly changing hands.
As Rosemary (Adele James) attempts to check in to the hotel, ostensibly to attend a conference in a pretty fit-and-flare dress appropriate to the early 1960s (costumes by Deborah Andrews), her unassuming baker boyfriend Bernard (Henry Shields) surprises her by wanting to make it a romantic weekend.
But sadly for Bernard, it’s clear Rosemarie may not be as interested, and also has other things on her mind, as do various others lurking about the hotel, including actor Douglas Woodbead (Henry Lewis), best known for a hemorrhoid advertisement but now preparing to audition for the film role of James Bond.
Two Russian agents, the sharply cold Elena (Charlie Russell) and clueless Sergei (Chris Leask), are trying to figure out what the CIA knows of the secret exchange while American agent Lance (Dave Hearn) is randomly joined by his amusingly overbearing mother Janet (Nancy Zamit), a retired agent with a thick New York accent.
Hotel clerk Albert (Greg Tannahill, excellently understudied by Adam Byron) rounds out the main cast, wittily manning the front desk, attempting to give Bernard the secret ring he had sent to the hotel with which to propose to Rosemarie, and suddenly appearing any time a bell rings, even from within Douglas’s closet or behind his door.
As with other Mischief productions, set design (by David Farley) is integral to the comedy. Besides doors (lots of doors), the set features an innovative multi-level design allowing us to see four hotel rooms at once — one each for the Russians, Americans, Bernard and Rosemarie, and Douglas. Bugged radios, long telephone cords, room-service ruses and a hole in the floor allow the characters to affect each other even as their own separate stories unfurl.
Other design features include a moving pathway so characters appear to run up and down hallways — most notably the hapless Bernard, who gets conscripted to be an agent for both sides — and dynamic lighting (by Johanna Town) that helps create an elevator shaft and train, and props for running gags involving bottles of shiraz, umbrellas and a laundered green jacket.
Besides ingenious writing and staging, the actors’ — many of them Mischief founding members — sheer comic expertise with verbal cues, facial expression and physical dexterity make the production over-the-top hilarious. Hopefully this production will tour the U.S. soon, but in the meantime, if you find yourself in London this summer, “The Comedy About Spies” is more than worth an evening out for some seriously delightful non-stop laughs.
“The Comedy About Spies” continues through Sept. 5 at the Noël Coward Theatre, 85-88 St. Martin's Ln., London, with shows Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. For tickets and information, visit NoelCowardTheatre.co.uk. Run time is 2 hours and 15 minutes, including intermission.
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