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A hilarious and raucous romp that makes pantomime look like IbsenSummary
Rating
Excellent
Houdini’s Greatest Escape is the show that puts the roar in uproarious, and makes pantomime look like Ibsen: a hilarious and raucous romp about the world’s greatest escapologist. If you like your theatre subtle and thought-provoking, this probably isn’t for you.
It’s 100 years ago, and Harry Houdini has come to London where he has dreams of performing for the King in the Royal Gala. Played with charisma and ebullience by Ben Higgins, Houdini is as much showman as magician, a man hugely impressed by his own abilities. He’s aided by his wife and glamorous assistant Bess, a perky and decisive Lydia Piechowiak. But their plans look like being thwarted after the burglary of crime boss Ma Barker is reported to the corrupt police chief: only Harry Houdini could have opened such a safe, and he’s further condemned by the discovery of a flyer for his show left at the scene. Can he prove his innocence in time to play for the King? Or will the gig go to his rival, the fraudulent spiritualist Agatha?
Performed in a mocked-up music hall stage with budget scenery and props, Houdini’s Greatest Escape owes its success to the imagination, physicality and boundless sense of fun of its hugely energetic cast. The versatile Kirsty Cox plays Ma Barker and Agatha, as well as two police officers and a circus elephant called Nellie among other characters. Adam Elliott, an actor of inexhaustible energy, plays the police chief, a circus ringmaster and a woodland hunter who is a self-proclaimed olfactory explorer, as well as ten other characters including all three sons of Ma Barker.
The dialogue is full of quick fire exchanges. “He’s a terrible philanderer,” the barmaid says of Chief Doyle. “He cheats on his wife?” enquires Bess. “Not often. He’s terrible at it.” There’s also a lot of intricate wordplay: a rant about how a scotsman “cannae do the can-can, ye ken” quickly became too intricate and frankly too exhausting to write down. The jokes aren’t afraid of borrowing lines from other sources: “Don’t call me Shirley” will be memorable to Airplane fans, and deceased son Ronnie Barker pops up with the phrase “four candles”.
Connie Watson’s inventive costume design allows for quick changes that permit Cox and Elliott to switch characters in an instant. In one memorable scene Elliot energetically plays all four participants with the aid of a cap, a moustache on a stick and a reversible kilt.
Caitlin Abbott’s imaginative set design includes a door-and-window construction on wheels that serves as a police station, a railway carriage, a pub and a cabin in the woods; a couple of roll-up trees make a convincing forest. There’s also a memorable underwater scene, created by single sheet of flowing material, aided by George Seal’s inspired lighting.
This is a high-energy, at times frantic show – movement director Sam Archer has had his work cut out. The scene in which Elliott swaps between a motorbike, a bicycle and a horse is especially neatly choreographed. Guy Hughes’ music and Fred Riding’s sound design envelop the show in period-appropriate style without ever swamping the action.
Writer and director Feargus Woods Dunlop has opted for a delivery somewhere between Edwardian music hall and Saturday morning kids’ TV. It takes a few minutes to get used to, but once you’re in the groove it’s an irrepressible evening of magical hijinks, mystery and mayhem. Forget your theatrical nuance and enjoy a good laugh.
Producer: New Old Friends in association with Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Writer/Director: Feargus Woods Dunlop
Set Designer: Caitlin Abbott
Costume Designer: Connie Watson
Lighting Designer: George Seal
Composer: Guy Hughes
Sound Designer: Fred Riding
Movement Director: Sam Archer
Dramaturg & Associate Director: Donnacadh O’Briain
Magic Consultant: Pete Firman
Creative Producer: Heather Westwell
Houdini’s Greatest Escape plays at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, until 30 June
