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Last Week, I had the honour of being invited to attend the WORLD PREMIERE of ‘Houdini’s Greatest Escape’ by New Old Friends - in association with the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford.
Obviously as this is a world premiere I had no idea on what to expect (except for Houdini magic!) and I hadn’t seen any ‘New Old Friends’ productions either - but I had heard lots about their physical comedy triumphs. Both of my expectations were met and exceeded massively!
Houdini’s Greatest Escape follows the story of the famous magician Harry Houdini and his wife Bess as their escapology tricks find themselves framed for murder by a gang who are operating in cahoots with the police force.. But will he escape? That’s for you to find out when you go and see the play!
The hilariously fun script is written by Feargus Woods Dunlop, who has provided a great metaphorical playground for the performers and characters to play together! Every verbal joke is brilliant and hits well and it also features some exciting twists and turns throughout the play too, which left the audience gasping. The response from the audience is great proof that Feargus Woods Dunlop is a fantastic playwright and also a wonderful director.
The cast were well suited to their roles, each one excelling throughout.
The role of Harry (freaking) Houdini was played by Ben Higgins, he portrayed the character as a very confident, larger than life magician and performed the iconic houdini tricks with such style! His charisma within the role was great and therefore was a perfect choice for the role!
Bess Houdini was played by Lydia Piechowiak. Piechowiak embodied the role beautifully, she brought a great energy and the pair had fabulous onstage chemistry. Her portrayal of the intelligent and glamorous wife of Harry Houdini gave her a strong female character and great energy too!
Two of the performers in the show multi-rolled a great number of characters which led to a great deal of comedy within the performance.
Kirsty Cox played the roles of Agatha, Ma Barker, Jules, Nelly, Barbara, PC Dibble and PC Cuthbert. Each of Cox’s characters were all so developed that you could hardly believe that it was the same performer! Every character brought a different energy and furthered the performance in a different way. My favourite of Cox’s characters was the dim, PC Dibble - I was howling with laughter.
The other performer with a long list of roles is Adam Elliott, who in my opinion totally stole the show! Elliot plays Hardeen, Chief Doyle, Fred Barker, Lloyd Barker, Ronnie Barker, Ken, Hawker, Shirley, Pennybags, Hunter and Jerome. He was also a massive fan favourite with the audience loving each one of his silly and brilliantly crafted characters. My favourite of his characters was ‘Hunter’ who was just so very different to the rest of the characters but in no way any less thought out. Elliot knew how to work the audience and had the entire audience practically rolling in the isles laughing, me included!
‘New Old Friends’ are known for their hilarious physical comedy, and they certainly deliver this extremely well in their most recent production ‘Houdini’s Greatest Escape’. I laughed my way through the scenes, each moment something new to giggle at, with recurring motifs as well that kept you both on your toes, and chuckling at the same time. The feeling is similar to that of a Mischief Theatre production but with their own unique twists, and obviously nothing goes wrong (touch wood!). The numerous comedy scenes kept coming with fresh material which I thought they surely would have exhausted by that point, and then the lead cast have tiny bodies and are running on top of a train! But I suppose what more would you expect with Houdini?
The set works just about as hard as the performers as is it transformed with just the slightest curtain opening or being pulled across. This use of the space was both genius and efficient both of which I appreciated massively (I do love a good set!).
The show is now heading out on tour – so it is your chance to catch it! The dates can be found on their website
I can’t wait to see the future of this magical, mysterious, hilarious play!
Robbie Davies | Robbie’s Backstage Bants
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