A night time grave robbing expedition goes horribly wrong in this black comedy that goes to grotesque dark depths and absurdly comedic heights.Rating
Excellent
Grimfest is a celebration of dark and twisted theatre in London, and Fools Gold at Old Red Lion Theatre fits neatly into this mould. It’s a story about grave robbing and the criminal underground. The plot follows one such grave robbing attempt that goes disastrously and bloodily wrong.
Fool’s Gold is a black comedy that begins with a serious premise and then escalates into increasing heights of bizarre antics. It is consistently funny throughout, balancing humour with moments of absurdism, such as frequent references to the 90s – despite a contemporary setting – including music from Robbie Williams and Take That, and Nuts magazine.
There are great comedic performances from all four cast members, but especially from Malcolm Webb whose character begins as an eccentric and unwanted addition to grave robbing, and escalates the madness of his character to heights of comedic preposterousness, as the show progresses. He is always the centre of attention and never far from dropping another brilliant comedic moment. Ben Whittle also delivers a strong performance as the straight man responding to Webb’s madness. The humorous situations become increasingly ridiculous, including several hilarious comedy pratfalls, such as two chase sequences set to the ‘Bennie Hill’ theme, both hilarious.
The plot of the show, exploring the criminal underworld of grave robbing gangs, becomes more complex as the show progresses. Earlier humorous asides come back as plot points, such as a reference to Webb’s character’s mother dating a window cleaner that evolves into a major part of the story. The script – also by Webb – is deft as well as comedic, effectively dramatising the wider criminal world of these characters. In the third act, shifts in the power between the characters and the escalating complications mean that some of the momentum is lost.
The show would benefit from being slightly shorter. However, Fool’s Gold builds to a grotesque and ludicrous finale that is both unsettling and funny, which is an excellent note to end on. For a show about a subject matter as dark as grave robbing, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I laughed.
Written by Malcolm Webb
Produced by Ben Whittle
Fool’s Gold has completed its current run.
