The meaning of Mischief - playful, reckless... But say the word 'Mischief' around a theatre fan and your brain is filled with images of silliness, calamity, clever funny wordplay, things going wrong and the ever growing portfolio of hit productions from one of the most successful and popular theatre companies around. With their flagship show 'The Play That Goes Wrong' having just welcomed its 13th cast, 'The Comedy About Spies' returning to London for a second run, 'Christmas

Whilst it is Agatha Christie who holds the famous title of the Queen of Crime, if the writers of crime dramas and whodunnits is seen as a royal court, then Arthur Conan Doyle would be in high standing. And his most famous creation, the dashing, absurdly intelligent and wickedly unique Sherlock Holmes, is perhaps one of the world’s best-known detectives, able to deduct anything and piece together the most complex of mysteries. Nearly 95 years after Conan Doyle’s death, the sto

Leonard Vole: handsome, charming and an all-around nice young man just simply trying to get by in life. But now he finds himself standing in the dock, accused of murder. Emily French, a wealthy spinster, has been found dead in her home, the exact home Leonard has been visiting on a regular basis having formed a friendship with the older woman, but he insists that he is innocent. He stands in the dock as experts, Ms French’s housekeeper and even his own wife Romaine are called

Lima, Peru. Jesús is gearing up for his first communion, seen as a miracle through the eyes of his mother and an object of pride by his father, raised in a religious household where he is regularly told that 'God loves you'. But has Jesús comes of age, it is a sexual awakening that takes hold rather than a religious one with the realisation that he loves Jesus, perhaps too much. Penned by, and starring, Sergio Maggiolo as Jesús (pronounced hayzuss) alongside partner Guido Gar

A storm can begin at the flap of a wing; the tiniest mite packs the mightiest sting. No, this isn’t Matilda the musical, but instead a quote to illustrate a greater point about how one action, big or small, can ripple, grow, explode even, and change the lives of multiple people forever. Especially if that one single action is one single punch. Written by James Graham, Punch tells the real-life stories of both Jacob Dunne and James Hodgkinson, the thrower and the recipie

‘For the first time in forever’ The snow stopped falling, Sven stopped running, the ice melted and Olaf stopped giving out warm hugs, all on 8 th September 2024 when Disney’s ‘Frozen the Musical’ closed up shop, the winter of Arendale making way for the summer of ancient Greece as Disney’s ‘Hercules’ swept in to take over. It was a surprise, for many, when it was announced that ‘Frozen’ with its ever-growing fan base, world famous musical numbers and globally adored charac

‘It’s time to begin, now count me in’ If the last line of the show’s introduction isn’t enough to indicate what is about to happen, the neon shades of blue and pink and the energy that bounces in the show’s opening moments should throw you head first into the silliness and jukebox fun that is ‘Here and Now’, a musical putting the song stylings of Steps into the spotlight and milking it for all it is worth. Set in Better Best Bargains, a seaside supermarket, ‘Here and Now’

My ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. High society, eligible bachelors, different identities for the town and the country, all wrapped up in flowers, flamboyancy and fun. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest came powering on all cylinders to the National Theatre in 2024, with more flair, more fashion and more love is love than ever before, and after a second run at the Noel Coward Theatre more recently, this production now lands right in our

Old age is something that comes to all of us, no matter how you choose to look at it. You may want to grow old gracefully, or disgracefully, age like fine wine, think of it as 'don't grow up, its a trap', or 'growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional', or you may in fact cling to the idea of hope of being forever young. However you choose to look at aging, it is all explored with comedy, music and heart in 'Forever Young' written by Erik Gedeon, directed by Martin Berr

And take extra care with strangers Even flowers have their dangers And though scary is exciting Nice is different than good. What springs to mind when you think of fairy tales? Be honest here, but I can't imagine that it's dark and at times twisted worlds of the Brothers Grimm, but instead brightly coloured dreamscapes of princesses, talking animals and happily ever afters. The disney-fied versions, if you will. And that's okay, but that isn't what I am going to be talking ab

We all know the story of Ariel, perhaps better known as The Little Mermaid, and her wish to walk on land with the humans and to be with the handsome Prince Eric, but how well do we know the story of Ursula, the sea witch who made her wish come true, at a cost of course? Enter Unfortunate, the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, a loud proud big and bold musical that explores her tale from her school days through to tricking the young princess into giving up her voice. But p

What goes up must come down, and when it comes to Cornley Drama Society when can go right must go wrong. Mischief Comedy have made a name for themselves as the masters of funny, and their flagship show 'The Play That Goes Wrong' has called the Duchess Theatre it's home for the past eleven years, filling the space with laughter, chaos and calamitous silliness eight times a week, with this double role-ing play within a play proving to be a masterclass of all things slapstick hi

Spandex, knee high boots, nineties fashion, fourth wall breaks, chorus members appearing from nowhere, and oodles upon oodles of ABBA. I could only be talking about one thing and that, of course, is Mamma Mia, the all singing all dancing spectacular that has been delighting audiences with its bouncy carefree lightheartedness for nearly 27 years. Sophie (Ellie kingdon) is getting married and upon finding her mother Donna's (played at this performance by Emma Odell) diary, she

Please Note - As the current cast only began performances on Monday 2nd February, the photographs in this review feature the previous cast. Written by the creators of South Park. That should act as your warning really, as South Park is known for being loud, naughty, and rude, pushing satire to the extreme and running with it as they say the things that others wouldn't dare to. So knowing all of that, you should walk into their popular musical The Book of Mormon, which has bee

Sunday 23rd March 1997, a brand new crime drama premiered on television starring John Nettles and Daniel Casey as two police detectives in the quaint English countryside. Those detectives; Barnaby and Troy. The show; Midsomer Murders. The pilot episode, The Killings at Badger's Drift became the highest rated single drama of 1997, and say they say, the rest is history. Nearly 29 years on, Midsomer Murders remains incredibly popular and is perhaps the epitome of cosy crime thes

Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma marmalade. Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma marmalade. Yes, dear reader of my theatrical ramblings, that has been stuck in my head on a pretty much continuous loop since Friday, the day on which I finally got to see one of the worlds most famous bears, Mr Paddington Brown himself. As a long time fan of this little bear from deepest darkest Peru, the excitement levels for this one were sky high, even more so when the way in which he would be portrayed on stage w

The Tube, the rat run, the pain in the backside, call it what you will but the London Underground is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of the modern age, connecting the city and inspiring many similar infrastructures around the world. Millions upon millions use it, and whilst many of us may not look up from our phones and books to truly take in what is happening around us as we travel under London, Cockfosters, back for another sell out run, explores it in great and hila

The festive season in the UK comes with plenty of traditions, from the famous Christmas dinner, crackers, television specials and lights, to travel chaos, overcrowded shops and adverts that don’t always make sense, but perhaps one of the most iconic festive traditions is the good old fashioned pantomime, with its cheesy lines, pop favourites, familiar gags and water pistols, guaranteed to bring a smile to the face to even the most scrooge like of audience members. This year

It’s like painting the Forth Bridge, as soon as you finish you start again. It’s only been a couple of months since the Piccadilly Hotel closed up shop at the Noel Coward Theatre when ‘The Comedy About Spies’ played its final performance (let’s hope it comes back one day) but it is no rest for the wicked for Mischief Comedy, the masters of funny, as they present their second new production of 2025 ‘Christmas Carol Goes Wrong’. Having premiered as a BBC Festive special back

Having celebrated its 19th anniversary back in September, the Apollo Victoria theatre was that famous shade of green long before the cinema screens. Wicked, known in full as Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz has been delighting audiences for much longer than a clock click of the Time Dragon, ever since its San Francisco tryout way back in 2003, and its much more recent star studded two-part film adaptation has sent its popularity to supersonic proportions, not tha