Mischief may well be swerving into becoming natural successors to Alan Ayckbourn, at one time a stalwart brand of West End comedy, but structurally the tone isn't, as yet, as confident, deft or outright funny.
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Penned by the regular actor-writer team of Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, it proves fitfully enjoyable but is overshadowed by works that have ploughed the same theatrical furrow.
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By challenging themselves, pulling back (slightly) on the gags and injecting a sense of genuine pathos into their work, the creative team have really proven themselves top of the class. Four gold stars.
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The script deftly unites moments broad and silly with elements wistful and serious within a simple structure.
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As it is, I winced a fair amount to start with and, after the interval, smiled throughout while even feeling the odd lump in the throat – which is some way from the Mischief Theatre norm.
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[Mischief Theatre are] genuinely heartening success story with an impressive work ethic and it’s a real shame that their new play ‘Groan Ups’ is fairly dreadful.
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What’s worse than a stage full of screaming children? A stage full of screaming adults pretending to be screaming children, that’s what.
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There are big laughs and plenty of them, but they sit uneasily with the straighter strain of the story. It’s not quite a case of Mischief Theatre Goes Wrong, but it’s not one of the company’s best either.
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