A stage adaptation that combines the essential base ingredients of the renowned TV show - comedy and horror - with a dose of nostalgia and references for the cognoscenti. Not only references because, broken across the show, they recreated the TV episode Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room. Not only references to their own show, but to other comedians too, such as Morecambe and Wise. And then there was that night's guest star, with a different one appearing for every show, and indulging in a bit of improv with Reece and Steve. (Jonathan Watson was ours, and played up over Steve's character's inability to get the name of 2 Doors Down right.)
The opening sketch set the tone beautifully, with that comedy/horror mix, a dose of shock, and a strong warning to the audience on theatre etiquette, all in the opening five minutes. From then on it was Reece and Sheersmith having fun with words, wordplay, sometimes heading for the groanworthy route, often clever. Great fun for fans, potentially confusing for the newcomer to their world! (And for young people, who might be wondering who'd miss a lot of the jokes, rootted in the culture of past TV.)
Even the curtain call turned into another macabre sketch. Laughs ands scares from beginning to end, and a sense of satisfaction that this was a wrthy tribute/follow up to one of the great TV series of the century.
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