The Comedy About Spies at Noel Coward Theatre review: bungling, buffoonish hilarity
Mischief has a diehard following that's stuck with them through Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, Mischief Movie Night and the deeply unimpressive Groan-Ups and Magic Goes Wrong, which together kicked off an ill-fated residency at the Vaudeville in 2019. I confess I've previously been baffled by the appeal of their broad, knockabout humour, even in PTGW, which I saw some years and several cast-changes into its run, when it seemed technically proficient but tired, its jollity forced.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Tiger Woods' son Charlie gets Jack Nicklaus comment as US Open star disqualified
The US Open is rapidly approaching, and some have been left heartbroken after missing out in qualifying, while Tiger Woods' son Charlie has been given a stark warning by Jack Nicklaus The line-up for the 125th US Open at Oakmont Country Club is nearly complete, but some big names have failed to make the cut. Rickie Fowler and Max Homa will be missing from the action in Pennsylvania later this month after falling foul of 'golf's longest day.' Meanwhile, a UPS driver missed out on the chance to complete the 36-hole Final Qualifying due to an unusual circumstance. In other news, Tiger Woods ' son Charlie has been causing a stir following his debut win at the American Junior Golf Association event in Florida. Despite starting his first AJGA Invitational ranked outside the top 600, he now sits at No. 14 and has received some sage advice from golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. Jason Day also had a peculiar mishap this month, while Ian Poulter was another casualty of the US Open qualifying process. Here's the latest from the world of golf. UPS driver's US Open disqualification A 31-year-old UPS driver secured a spot in a final 36-hole qualifier at Woodmont Country Club on Monday, with hopes of making it to Oakmont. However, a devastating mistake put an end to his dream early. Nick Barrett shot an opening 73 during 'golf's longest day,' having qualified for the event last month after carding a 68 in local stages. But as playing partners Cole Miller and Jason Li headed to the scorer's tent to sign their cards, Barrett was nowhere to be found. "I stood up after I had a hot dog or something at lunch, and I felt my back pocket, and I felt the scorecard in there, and as soon as I did that, my heart went straight to the bottom of my stomach," he told The Baltimore Sun. The delivery driver had failed to sign and return his scorecard in a timely manner and was disqualified, as any chance of competing in the US Open vanished. "It's kind of hard to express, but just disappointment in myself because at the end of the day, it is my responsibility as a player," he continued. "I can't blame anybody but me. It's just a total gut punch." Jason Day's 'freak' accident Former USPGA champion Day will likely lead a strong Australian contingent at this month's US Open despite being plagued by injuries recently. Day missed the cut at the PGA Championship after a back problem affected his preparation, and was forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament after a 'freak' accident injured his wrist. "Long story short, I was moving a bike and something popped in my (left) wrist," he told The Loop podcast. "I couldn't move it for at least a week, week and a half. It's a two-to-four week wrist injury. It's not going to be, like you're going to have it and overnight it's going to get better. "It's getting better now. The way that I moved it, it was just like one of those freak accidents. It felt like I had tendonitis in there for like two or three weeks. So when that happened, I was just like, it was bound to happen at some point." Charlie Woods warned by Jack Nicklaus In the wake of Woods, son of 15-time major champion Tiger, clinching his first AJGA title and making a name for himself as an up-and-coming star, many have weighed in on whether the youngster can thrive under his father's colossal shadow. Nicklaus, who has won 18 majors himself, has now given his opinion. He compared the situation to when his own son, Gary, began his professional career and found the spotlight and expectations at such a tender age overwhelming. "It ran him out of golf," Nicklaus started, referring to his son's experiences to AP. "Gary would get off the 18th and run to the car so he didn't have to talk to the press for about two years. I think it's tough on kids. It's difficult for them. It's even tougher today. Charlie is a nice little player. He's got a beautiful little golf swing. Does he want to follow his father? Does he realise what's going on? "My kids played because they wanted to play, not because I wanted them to play," Nicklaus stated, before discussing the lesson he imparted to his children. "That was sort of my rule of the house. Don't play golf because of me, play golf because that's what you want to do." Ian Poulter's US Open pride British Ryder Cup and LIV Golf star Poulter was left in anguish as his son Luke narrowly missed out on a spot at Oakmont after an intense play-off at the US Open's Final Qualifying. Despite not playing himself, Poulter was closely following the action where his 20-year-old son, a University of Florida talent, faced Austen Truslow in a nail-biting play-off showdown at Emerald Dunes Golf Club. The young golfer's dreams were dashed when opponent Truslow clinched victory with a birdie on the second extra hole, ending Luke's hopes of making it to the US Open. However, his father remained full of pride, taking to social media to express his admiration: "Luke lost on the second extra playoff hole to a birdie. I can't believe how impressive today's 65 was to get him in that position. We keep using this incredible experience, and we keep getting better."
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Barbara Windsor's touching advice which inspired EastEnders star's career move
Shona McGarty quit her role as Whitney Dean last April after 16 years on the soap, and is now getting ready to star in a new West End production Former EastEnders favourite Shona McGarty is stepping into a new chapter of her career, and says the late Dame Barbara Windsor would have been behind her every step of the way. During an appearance on Lorraine this morning (June 4), Shona spoke about her upcoming role in Bettie Page, Queen of Pin-Ups – The Musical. Ranvir Singh pointed out the striking similarities between Barbara's glamorous EastEnders character and Shona's new part, saying: "It's funny, of course, we think of Babs, and we think of the role you're about to play now. There are some similarities there – of being the pin-up, being brave, owning your sexuality." Shona admitted that the legendary actress had always been one of her biggest supporters, adding: "I know that Barbara Windsor would have been so proud of me taking on this role. She always said to me, because I'm short and I'm curvy, she always said I should do burlesque. So I know she'd be proud." In Shona's upcoming West End venture she will play American model Bettie Page in a new biography-musical that audiences can come see from June 9. The show will run for one night only at London's Lyric Theatre and promises to delve into the life of the 1950s icon, through the medium of original songs and hits from the 50s and 60s. It will explore Bettie's rise to fame and her impact on pop culture and feminism. Shona is best known for playing Whitney Dean in EastEnders ever since she joined the soap at the age of 16. She left the BBC series in April last year after 16 years on set. This marked the end of an era where Whitney faced many emotional storylines, tackling serious issues like grooming, domestic abuse, and pregnancy loss. Shona was praised for her sensitive portrayal of the character throughout these hard-hitting topics. Since leaving Albert Square, Shona has kept herself busy exploring other avenues of entertainment. She has spent time in the recording studio, performed live music, and even presented an award at the Beauty Awards in November. Some of the singles she has released include A Change is Gonna Come, Rock with Rudolph, and Let It Be. After her soap exit, Shona told The Sun that it was difficult to leave EastEnders, but she felt like it was the right decision. The actress shared: "It was a really difficult decision because it's all I've ever known. I pretty much grew up on the Square, so I feel like I'm leaving home. "But I had to put on my big girl pants and be quite brave, because life is so short, and you feel that more and more as you get older. There are other opportunities and areas of the industry I want to explore before I get too old! All things come to an end and this is the new chapter of my life."
Scotsman
30-05-2025
- Scotsman
Theatre reviews: Tongue Twister Shades of Shadows Saria Callas
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Tongue Twister, North Edinburgh Arts Centre ★★★★ Grown Ups, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh ★★★ Shades of Shadows, The Studio, Edinburgh ★★★★ Saria Callas, Oran Mor, Glasgow ★★★ It's Children's Festival time; and at the sparkling new North Edinburgh Arts Centre, one of Scotland's leading makers of theatre for children, Greg Sinclair, is rolling out his latest show Tongue Twister. It's a remarkable show at many levels, both because it uses and reflects on language in ways that international theatre for children often tends to avoid, and because of the lavish, surreal energy of its visual and physical response to that verbal content. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tongue Twister | Imaginate Sinclair begins by telling us that he has been fascinated by tongue twisters ever since since his grandad taught him to say 'She sells sea shells on the sea shore"; and on designer Karen Tennant's luminous stage - backed by two huge sun-like circles in which words occasionally appear - he runs through a series of wild and hilarious visual variations on the theme, rolling around the stage in great frothy layers of sea-blue and white fabric. He goes on to to introduce tongue twisters in a dozen different languages, from Japanese and Swahili to Gaelic, riffing merrily, for example, on images suggested by the French tongue-twister 'dans ta tente ta tante t'attend'. In the end, what Sinclair and his team create is a glorious 50 minute tribute to that wonderful, universal, playful moment when human beings pause in the grown-up business of dealing with the content of language, and begin to amuse themselves by toying with the forms of it. And Tongue Twister not only celebrates that moment, but explodes it into whole episodes of visual and verbal silliness, as wild and surreal as they are funny, and joyfully human. Grown Ups | Imaginate If Greg Sinclair is a children's theatre maker who works by effectively becoming a child for the length of the show, I was also struck by two EICF shows, this week, which invited children to laugh (which they did, most heartily) at the sight of adults making a complete hash of being grown up. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Grown Ups, by the Compagnie Barbarie and Bronks of Belgium, is a slightly overlong but brilliantly staged piece pf slapstick about a team of four grown women failing to cope with a series of mysterious water leaks onto the stage. Shades of Shadows at The Studio, meanwhile - by Tangram Collective of France and Germany - is an exceptionally beautiful and clever shadow-play piece about two women trying to sit down for a cup of tea together, that had the children in the audience chortling with pleasure, for a blissful 45 minutes. Shades of Shadows | Florian Feisel And out beyond the children's festival, this week's Play, Pie and Pint drama came as a harsh reminder of how repressive societies can simply forbid essential forms of play and creativity, including those as basic as singing and dancing. In Sara Amini's powerful but awkwardly structured monologue, Saria Callas, she plays an Iranian woman brought up under the repressive rules of the Islamic Republic, yet as rebellious as any teenage girl, and desperate to become a singer. As an adult, and a single mother in London, she finds that her beloved son has inherited her love of performance, and - like her - wants the freedom to express himself as he is, whatever the cost. And although Saria's story takes a while to reach this crisis-point, there's no doubting the tremendous strength and charisma of Amini's performance, as a woman not only inspired by the greatest singers of both Iranian and European culture, but fully capable of making the same kind of impact on an audience, given half a chance.
