The Comedy About Spies has just opened at the Noël Coward Theatre in London’s West End and is perhaps the funniest thing I have ever seen on stage.
Up until now, I have always said that I think Noises Off is the greatest comedy show out there. Mischief Theatre have had huge success with The Play That Goes Wrong and subsequent comedy clones Peter Pan Goes Wrong (2015), The Comedy About a Bank Robbery (2016), Lights! Camera! Improvise! and Mischief Movie Night (2019), Groan Ups (2019) and Magic Goes Wrong (2019) but for me, none have ever lived up to the farcical genius of Michael Frayn – until now.
The Comedy About Spies is a Fawlty Towers-esq comedy farce, opening with a hilarious scene set in the offices of the CIA, where each member of staff is known by just one letter of the alphabet, causing side-splittingly-funny, door-slamming hilarity and misunderstanding.
American spy, Lance Buchanan (Dave Hearn) is sent to London’s Piccadilly Hotel in pursuit of an elusive file that he must retrieve before it gets in to the hands of the Russians. An easy enough job for a spy you would think, until his overly-excentric mother, Janet (Nancy Zamit) surprises him by turning up to help out and play detective. The relationship reminded me of the 1992 film Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, starring Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty and Nancy Zamit steals the show as the overbearing mother.
Bernard Wright (Henry Sheilds) surprises girlfriend Rosemary (Adele James) by romantically turning up to the hotel where she is attending a work conference, with one thing on his mind – a marriage proposal! But with a ring waiting to be delivered, will he get it in time for the big moment?
Actor Douglas Woodbead (Henry Lewis), frustratingly most recognised for a haemorrhoid advert he once filmed, is in town for a meeting about starring in the next James Bond film, but can he remember his lines?
The Comedy About Spies cast includes members of the original Mischief Company – Dave Hearn, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Henry Shields, Greg Tannahill, Nancy Zamit and Adele James. Joining them for this production are Macadie Amoroso, Adam Byron, Matt Cavendish, Allie Dart, Niall Ransome and Ashley Tucker. It is clear this cast know how to work together as the comedic timing is perfectly on the nose.
The set design (David Farley) and costumes (Deborah Andrews) are gorgeously 1960’s and the set cleverly creates two floors of a hotel for actors to delightfully fall through ceilings and throw more bottles of red wine out of the windows than I could drink in a week!
Mischeif Theatre’s The Comedy About Spies is playing until 5 September 2025 at the Noel Coward Theatre. If you’re a fan of their work then this is them at the top of their game and if it has never particularly tickled your pickle, this may just be the one to change your mind.
Find out more about The Comedy About Spies
If you enjoy/have enjoyed any of these performances, why not nominate them for a West End Wilma Award
