Wilma’s Rating: [rating=5]
Where:
Duke of York’s Theatre
St Martin’s Lane
London
WC2N 4BG
How Much: £10-£52.50
How long: 2hrs 45mins (inc interval)
Running until: 4h August 2012
Programme: £4
Wine: £5.50
Honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen at the theatre. Laura Wades portrayal of 10 filthy rich posh boys, acting like cringe-worthy idiots had me in stitches throughout the whole first half.
Set in a private dining room of a gastro pub, we see the riot club (a private members group) gather for their first group meal for two years. Trying hard to ensure they make their impression on the rest of the group, they all have something up their sleeves to prove their worthiness within the group.
A symbolic 10-bird-roast (a bird inside a bird inside a bird), a hired prostitute whom they plan to put under the table (and let her rotate on them one after the other) and an impromptu plan to go to Iceland that evening are but a few of the hilarious things these boys do at their meal.
In the second half things turn very dark and serious, after a dozen bottles of wine have been consumed people change and we see the boys taking their childish rich boy values one step too far ending up with them all turning against each other to keep their reputations in tact.
Random outbreaks of beat boxing and dance renditions of Maroon 5’s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ and LMFAO’s ‘Sexy and I Know It’ are completely out of the blue and mean nothing to the storyline but break the seriousness of the piece up perfectly, sending the audience into another bout of hysterics. It was so random I wouldn’t have been surprised if they got their laptops out and started playing CheekyBingo at the table.
There is a debate to be had at the end of the show over the rhyme and reason for some of the things that happen. Did the second half need to be so serious when the first half had been so funny? Was that the point? Who knows.
All in all, this show is a 100% must see as will undoubtedly have you laughing all the way through (the first half at least).
