What’s it like?
Philip King’s classic British comedy went away for 22 years and came back more stupid than ever. Well, stupid in quite a good way, as in it’s funny. Remember when your dad used to howl at Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em, and you never quite understood what the fuss was all about? Why did he do all that stupid stuff? This is a bit like that, only now you’re all grown up you can actually appreciate the complete pointlessness of the actions that lead these characters into despair.
What’s it about?
Set in 1942 the play follows the residents of idyllic English village Merton-cum-Middlewick as they await the imminent German invasion. Don’t worry, it doesn’t go all depressing and war-time on you, in fact, the only thing German about the whole thing is a strange escaped prisoner with a dodgy accent who comes in to spice things up even more. There’s a nosy old neighbour who gets sloshed and falls over a lot, a dressing-gown clad bishop who spends the entire play asking what’s going on, a wayward ex-actress and her ‘friend from the stage’, plus a lot of vicars. As uniforms are lost, invisible scotch is sipped, cupboards are closed containing semi naked parish people and someone strange lurks menacingly in the garden, you can’t help but wonder what else can possibly go wrong. And then, naturally, it does.
Who’s in it?
No one particularly famous, although the cast is probably better for it. This is British farcical comedy at its best and needs no big names to reel us in. Natalie Grady’s caricature-like maid, Ida is funny to watch, and Julie Legrand’s Mrs Skillon’s descent from stiff-upper-lipped nosy neighbour to inebriated, word slurring cupboard dweller is slapstick comedy at its most entertaining.
What should I look for?
The dog, Digby. Blink and you’ll miss him.
Verdict
Well you can’t get much sillier for a night out in London, really, except for maybe Avenue Q, but that’s a whole different league entirely. See How They Run is that show you’d see to remind yourself how 'very British' we used to be, and still probably are in the eyes of people who don’t know how much our country has changed, even since the 40’s. It’s bursting with stereotypes - the tea
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