The Comedy About Spies – Noël Coward Theatre, Leicester Square

Writers: Henry Lewis and Henry Shields
Director: Matt DiCarlo

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

“Clever, Creative, Chaos“

5 / 5

~This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub ~

Mischief – the multi-award-winning company behind The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery– is back with another fantastical farce, focusing on a 1960s-style spy spoof that will have you shaken (not stirred) with laughter from beginning to end.

When a British turncoat steals the plans for a top-secret mission, it’s in everyone’s best interests for the CIA to retrieve the files before the KGB get their hands on them. Going undercover at the Piccadilly Hotel, everyone is doing their best to remain unseen and inconspicuous, but in true Mischief fashion, the plan goes horribly wrong. A wannabe James Bond, lovestruck boyfriend and clueless hotel staff all manage to get caught in the CIA/KGB crossfire in this duplicitous double agent delight.

Featuring the original company members in cast and creative roles, the show is expectedly hilarious and excellently rehearsed to ensure that every single ridiculous pun, over-the-top physical staging and tangled storyline are showcased seamlessly. Writers Henry Lewis and Henry Shields cram maximum humour into the script, and though some of the gags are predictably groan-inducing, they are delivered so impeccably well that it’s hard not to remain permanently grinning for the entire 160-minute runtime.

Director Matt DiCarlo ensures the purposeful on-stage chaos runs smoothly – an impressive feat considering the multitude of misdirection and high-energy hijinks. David Farley’s set design is absolutely integral to supplement the script, transporting the audience through various areas of the hotel, the tube, the streets and down by the docks. One large segment of the show focuses on four hotel rooms at once and proves to be both functional and fabulously eye-catching.

Every single cast member is absolutely outstanding, each of them just as talented and impressive as the other. Henry Lewis as Douglas Woodbead in his role as the actor hoping to nab the role of James Bond is brilliantly portrayed, his showbiz ego and confusion over the script flawless. CIA mother and son duo Lance (Dave Hearn) and Janet Buchanan (Nancy Zamit), and the rival KGB agents Sergei Ivanov (Chris Leask) and Elena Popov (Charlie Russell) add a brilliantly physical element to the show, with lots of jumping out of windows, fight sequences and chase montages. Meanwhile, unaware hotel manager Albert Tipton (Greg Tannahill) and British couple Bernard Wright (Henry Shields) and Adele James (Rosemary Wilson) are thrown into the mix, getting completely in the way of the spies’ mission, all resulting in hysterically funny results.

Mischief is a creative, comedic powerhouse, and the clever storyline and talented cast make The Comedy About Spies not only a spectacular spy spoof but also an outstanding show altogether.

Booking until 5 September 2025