Andrew Silk reviews The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Bristol Hippodrome
The Comedy About A Bank Robbery comes to a town near you. Tonight it was Bristol. Brought to you by the renowned Mischief Theatre Company this is a show from the same team that also brought to the stage The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong – a team that as they say, has “form”.
If you are a fan of comedy and especially farce and slapstick, then I would urge you to go and see it – you won’t be disappointed. The night is full of laughs and at times you are hard pressed to keep up with the goings on on-stage as the characters seemingly continually try to outwit and outcon each other.
A gang of criminals are sprung from jail and are intent on stealing a precious diamond from a bank in Minneapolis, run by a less than sane manager, Robin Freeboys (an excellent Damian Lynch) that has been deposited there by a Hungarian Prince. The gang of criminals quickly descend into disarray as they try to execute the heist as leader, American/Italian tough guy Mitch Ruscitti (played excellently by Liam Jeavons) is torn between completing the job and winning back his money obsessed girlfriend, Caprice Freeboys (Julia Frith), daughter of the aforementioned Robin.
She, however, has other ideas and its pick-pocket and con artist Sam Monaghan (Sean Carey) that she falls for that puts the metaphorical spanner in the works. It’s when Sam has to be hidden in Caprice’s apartment because Mitch turns up unexpectedly that the jokes really start to ratchet up and by the end of this sequence, with help from a malfunctioning fold-up bed I guarantee that your sides will be hurting from laughing so much!
But the fun does not stop there. The jokes once started, continue as the story descends further and further into farce and the characters really come into their own. Cooper, Mitch’s assistant in crime really reveals just how useless and incompetent he is, whilst the bank’s much put upon 67 year old intern, Warren (one of the best performances on the night from Jon Trenchard) becomes the main target of all the slapstick that goes on. And I can’t resist it, but a special mention must go to the seagulls – watch the play and you’ll understand what I mean!
I won’t spoil the ending for you, but what I would say is that this is a great night out and a wonderful way to while away an evening – I would recommend you go and see for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!
The show continues to the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 16 February and then visits Cambridge, Coventry, Aylesbury, Leicester, Southampton, Eastbourne, Poole, Dublin, Edinburgh, Sheffield and finally Liverpool. For more information visit www.thecomedyaboutabankrobbery.com/
