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Spymonkey’s hilarious rendition of all the deaths, yes you read that right, ALL, the deaths, is truly a laugh riot at The Liverpool Playhouse Theatre. There is not one moment where you’d find yourself looking at your watch, trying to gauge just how much longer you’re going to have to wait.
There’s pyrotechnics, lots of spitting and rolling your ‘R’s and a nice bit of video presentation proclaiming the amalgamation of Hitler and Shakespeare as ‘Shitler’. Heck, they’ve even brought back the Bard to life!
There’s a running joke about the ‘black ill mannered fly’ from Titus Andronicus, which brings in the last death. ‘The Complete Deaths’ is as quintessential British comedy as you are going to get. There’s a buzzer, which counts down the number of onstage deaths – 75 to be exact.
Onstage being the keyword here, there’s no Ophelia or Lady Macbeth (spin around three times and spit), or even Antigonus being chased by a bear from A Winter’s Tale. However, the mass murders that ensue amidst heavy tomfoolery are plenty to keep you riveted, possibly with tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks.
There’s one scene in particular, which tells us, how much preparation and precise technique goes into presenting a comedy and that is the part where the four actors are hitting each other with cardboard tunes, creating tunes in synchronization. It was truly a treat for the senses.
Go see it and revel in the Bard’s 400th year of demise by seeing all of the deaths he penned come to life on stage, under the watchful direction of Tim Crouch at Liverpool’s Playhouse theatre!
‘Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;
But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.’
– Prologue, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Act V Scene I)
The Complete Deaths
The Liverpool Playhouse Theatre.
20th May- 21st May
Directed by Tim Crouch
Actors: Petra Massey, Stephen Kreiss, Aitor Basauri, Toby Park
PR Rating: ***** Hilarious