The Comedy About a Bank Robbery

Their sketch at the Oliviers was one of the best parts of the evening and I'd like the Cornley Ploytechnic Society to present the Olivier Awards next year! I think it would be absolute, non-stop hilarity!!

The show's getting shorter, we were finished just before 5 this afternoon. I'm blowed if I could work out what had been cut though, it must be various minor bits. I did spot a couple of changes but one of those was an addition.

^I can't work that one out either! I would say there are 7 crooks in total. I suspect that the slogan may have been coined before the play took its current shape. Likewise I don't feel that the poster really reflects the plot.

I'd say that there are 3 surprise crooks. Yes, I guess one of the crooks is the most competant if you think of it that way but whether that's what the slogan actually means I'm not certain.

I agree with most of your comments but especially this one! Lucky Charlie Russell, getting bedroom scenes with (IMO) the two best-looking men in the show.

Usually I hate kids interrupting but that must have been really funny. I don't blame him/her: I was mentally saying "Nooooo" the first time I saw that scene.

Is anyone any good at 1950s pop music identification? I'm trying to work out which songs are used in the show. I think I've identified 3 of them but I'm not getting anywhere on the last one. It's difficult to Google lyrics when from what I remember the lyrics mostly consisted of "Ba da ba dee" and suchlike syllables.

I went last night too, and I loved it. Although, as previously said, it didn't have as many laugh out loud moments as the Play, some of the gags were completely far removed from their original work, which is nice to see.

A highlight for me was the addition of the songs. It worked very well indeed. Great show, great cast as always too.

Saw the matinee this afternoon, and loved it.

While this has no more laughs than the "Goes Wrong" plays, it gets the same huge amount of laughs without that easy through-line of everything going wrong. It's a terrific achievement, and tickled my funny bone more than the previous benign, nostalgic occupant of the Criterion.

The "Goes Wrong" plays had the feel of having been developed in improv, where you start things going wrong, and kept riffing matters worse and worse to their ultimate conclusion. Increasingly frenetic slapstick and disasters were the order of the day.

This time, Mischief Theatre have grafted a dazzling array of different comedy techniques to their hugely likeable, bumbling and silly personas:-

There is still plenty of raucous slapstick to be had in this play, as well as the physical dexterity and bravery we have come to expect from Mischief Theatre, and in particular, there is that sustained endearing tone of British silliness. But there are also much of the following (without mentioning the actual plot, for fear of spoiling it):-

(1) Double meanings are the source of MUCH verbal humour. I say double meanings, rather than double entendres, because Mischief Theatre rarely ever goes rude and raunchy. If a word has two meanings, count on the wrong meaning being assumed, repeated, escalated and paid off;

(2) Not only is "Comedy about a Bank Robbery" much more verbal than it's predecessors, it's more musical too. Improbably, our Mischief makers have a talent for singing jaunty blues and gospel numbers, in particular in the case of cast member, Nancy Wallinger. The music propels the mood and story of the piece, particularly during scene changes, and because blues and gospel carry shades of darkness, the singing provides a welcome and necessary sense of depth to a comedy that is 2 and a half hours in running time. I generally feel a shallow comedy should end after an hour and a half, but layers of darkness and musicality help sustain a meatier running time;

(3) Mistaken identity, classic trope of comedies since the dawn of time, is doubled and tripled. Knowing that mistaken identity is a typical fertile plot point of comedy, Mischief Theatre makes sure to triple down on the technique, so as to get more mileage;

(4) Repetition is frequently funny, repetition with variation funnier, and super-fast repetition with variation funnier still (because it is virtuosic), and boy, do Mischief Theatre know how to repeat, repeat with variation, and repeat with ultra-fast speed;

(5) Breaking the rules of physics at surprising times is a good way of grabbing some absurd Pythonesque laughs, so watch out, physics, you are going to be the subject of some knowing (and absoltely hilarious) sight gags;

(6) Explosive tantrums and displays have always been funny, as epitomised by John Cleese's Basil Fawlty, and Henry Lewis (one of the most naturally gifted comedians of the troupe), who seemed intially underused, playing a worryingly buttoned down character, really gets some splendid laughs, when he finally blows a gasket lol.

Having had my best laughs with Mischief Theatre at Trafalgar Studios 2 (The Play that Goes Wrong) and at Pleasance Theatre (Peter Pan Goes Wrong), and not having laughed quite as much at the revivals in the West End, I was worried that Mischief Theatre might not sustain their freshness, but this play, going straight into the West End lets me understand that the fault was with me. Repeat visits to comedies simply are never as fresh and surprising as first visits, and this new comedy constantly surprised me.

Utilising so many comedy techniques in this new play, this troupe are building their skills and techniques. They can become even better, and this is exciting.

Their X Factor remains, for me, themselves. I like them as performers, just as much as I like them as writers. Jonathan Sayer's wheedling and whining are better used here, than ever, as Henry Lewis' subordinate at the Bank. Henry Lewis' natural exuberance is initially hemmed in by his brave assumption of the role of a Bank President Stiff, but he gets to mine some unforgettably hilarious Basil Fawlty type veins late in the proceedings. Henry Shields also plays against type, less gradually-unwinding urbanity this time, more a testerone-fuelled bully of a bandit (I couldn't believe it either). And while I missed the Chris Bean of it all, Shields' character is the engine of the entire plot, and without his work, none of this would work. Dave Hearn wins the most loveable Mischief actor award for the third time in a row with his performance of a con artist turned romeo. And Charlie Russell's Katherine Hepburn smart line deliveries, as a sassy grifter, coupled with her all-round physical comedy excellence, mean she gets to be more likeable this time, yet still as pivotal to all the plot machinations as before.

This comedy will easily play to the end of it's run. I could feel the word of mouth buzzing as I left the theatre. Anybody who likes comedy should see this one. It won't change your world, but it will make you laugh.

And with these guys, there may be even better to come.

4 and a half stars

Currently at the interval. Stalls are packed, not sure about other levels. Audience are *extremely* responsive, prolonged belly laughs from about 2 or 3 lines in and carried on all the way through Act 1. I am bloody LOVING IT and laughing just as much as I did when I first saw Play That Goes Wrong. Different kind of comedy but equally hilarious. Exhaustingly so! Cannot wait for Act 2. Need to see Peter Pan Goes Wrong this Xmas to complete my trio!