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I attended a performance last week by The Comedy About a Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theater in London.
The Criterion is a theater in the center of London, directly opposite the screens of Piccadilly Circus and entirely underground. With less than 600 seats, it recalls the Parisian theaters on Boulevard du Temple.
It is therefore in this intimate atmosphere that the play begins, which was written by the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong (which opened in 2012 in London, in 2016 in Paris and in April 2017 on Broadway). After seeing The Play That Goes Wrong last year, I expected to find this spirit of English humor rather redundant and whose gags always end up being predictable.
Yes, of course, not everything is light but we follow a real story and a dozen characters in a Hollywood style of the 50s.
The action takes place in 1958 at the Minneapolis City Bank directed by Mr. Freeboys. The burlesque plot concerns the attempted theft of a priceless diamond belonging to a Hungarian prince, coveted by a prisoner named Mitch. He is joined by Cooper, one of the corrupt prison guards he has just escaped, as well as Caprice, the daughter of Freeboys, a true gold-digger and Mitch's girlfriend. The latter fell under the spell of Sam, pick-pocket and son of the assistant of Freeboys.
The gags, visual and verbal, follow one another so much that it is difficult to stop laughing. Many are as cheesy as they get, but the acting is very energetic and Mark Bell's directing so inventive that even the most shameful gag is warranted.
We not only want to know what will happen next, but how it will happen.
The most remarkable remains the physical prowess of the actors. Some end up hanging from ropes, singing a lullaby with their heads upside down. We especially remember the play of Steffan Lloyd-Evans in the role of Sam, Hannah Boyce in the role of Caprice and Jeremy Lloyd in "Everyone Else".
If you want to spend an enchanted evening, discover a charming underground theater and come out with concrete abs then this is the show for you! You can book your tickets here!