Review: EDINBURGH 2014: SPY MOVIE: THE PLAY!, Pleasance Courtyard

Spy film: The Play!written by Matthew Howell and Jack Michael Stacey, is “The Greatest Spy Movie of All Time.” The show has a pretty interesting (and meta) concept – what we’re going to see is supposed to be on screen, but for financial reasons we’re going to see it as a play. It’s the classic game-within-a-game concept with a new twist that is quite refreshing.

We’re introduced to the work by the writer-director (Howell and Emily Waters), who selects a front-row audience member to portray “Gary,” a producer who has come to see if the show is worth financing is . We’re also introduced to the show’s sponsor, Michael Mulaney’s Used Car Dealership, whose catchy jingle is played several times throughout the show.

Stacey plays Ian Flemish, creator of the popular spy Agent Dick Hardwood (yes, there will be jokes about that), who stars in novels like… Maybe it’s definitely time to die again. Stacey is joined by Jo Hartland as Jane Blonde, a real-life spy who must work with Flemish to save the world from the hands of EVIW (“Every Villain in the World”, pronounced “evil” with a Cockney accent), his ringmaster , Mr. Lovely (Waters).

Fans of Mischief Theater and its “Goes Wrong” productions may see some familiar faces in the cast. Both authors, Stacey and Howell, were there The piece that goes wrong in 2019 and then toured with Peter Pan makes a mistake in 2023, with Howell also appearing in the West End production. Waters was in the 2022–23 West End cast The piece that goes wrong. Hartland is the only one whose name doesn’t come from Mischief, but she fits right in with the group and their sense of comedy.

After seeing and reviewing the play in December 2023, I was curious to see how much (if at all) the play had changed. The focus is more on the story itself and there are fewer conversations between the writer and the producer. Many of the highlights I had noted before remain the same, including Howell taking on many roles (sometimes literally) to play supporting characters, and the appearance of some truly terrible (in the best sense) puns and visuals Gags. Some of the best moments come from the simplest of props, including an “exact replica” of St Andrews Links, a “window” on a train, signs showing where we are and a remote-controlled helicopter used in a dramatic escape scene flies above the audience.

Even though the series is “suitable for the whole family,” there are plenty of jokes about Agent Dick Hardwood that you would expect from a character with such a name. A highlight is a dramatic speech in which someone declares, “Too many people need Dick.” There’s also another character with an interesting name – Randy Lust, the CIA double agent, whose appearances tend to lead to more suggestive references as the series progresses .

Ultimately, Spy film: The Play! is a wonderfully simple and simply delightful show for all ages that will appeal not only to fans of the spy genre, but also to fans of comedy as a whole. The cast are all fantastic and work incredibly well together, providing a lot of laughs.

Spy film: The Play! ran until August 26th at Pleasance Courtyard – Beneath.

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