Houdini’s Great Escape is a self-proclaimed diversion for New Old Friends, whose well reputed murder mystery comedies have been a hit both an on-stage and in podcast form since 2017. Their decision to gamble on a new genre though has paid off in spades, with this fast-paced, lively performance well capturing the peculiarly magical lure of the world-renowned entertainer Harry Houdini.
Dunlop manages to position a tight storyline within a flyaway comedy
Drawing partly on well researched facts about Houdini’s life, writer and director Feargus Woods Dunlop excitingly blurs the line between the fictive and the biographical, as he weaves together an action-packed ninety minutes of theatre. Asking whether the king of escapism can escape from a tangled trap that is, for once, not of his own making, the play is a fun take on the ‘wrong man’ thriller format.
Houdini, played by Ben Higgins, and his wife and on-stage assistant Bess, brought to life by Lydia Piechowiak, find themselves framed for theft and then murder by the notoriously criminal family the Barker’s, with Kirsty Cox performing as Ma Barker and Adam Elliott shapeshifting between her three sons. In an increasingly elaborate attempt to escape reputational ruin, and thus salvage their opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Show before King Edward, the couple encounter a host of evermore farcical situations, as they attempt to orchestrate the greatest escape plan of the show: that of having to prove their innocence.
Centred as the more cunning of the two, Piechowiak brings to life the formidable Bess with a confident performance, that well-balances a sharp-witted resourcefulness with a slightly daft playfulness. At her side, Higgins performs Houdini as bombastic entertainer who is nonetheless able to be nifty and slight in his escapes. The two have a convincing chemistry that rumbles on throughout the whole performance, and they do well to sustain the energy of the show.
Stealing the show however, are the performances of Elliott and Cox, whose character lists run into the double-digits as they bring to life a host of wonderful side-characters. Cox switches from the sinisterly scrunched faced Ma Barker to the exaggerated extravagance of the spiritualist Agatha effortlessly. In addition, her performance as eccentric elephant-armed circus clown - credit to the costume designer Connie Watson for bringing that idea to life - was as endearing as it was funny.
It was Elliott, who played twelve different characters alone, who stole the biggest laughs of the night though, with a quick fire interlude sketch that had him switching between four characters. Through hilariously simple costume changes and a mastery of endless new accents and mannerism, Elliot bounced off his own presence in an incredibly impressive manner.
Throughout the show, the work of the whole creative team could be seen in its entirety. From the scenic lighting (designed by George Seal) to the simple yet effective staging (with set design by Caitlin Abbott and movement directed by Sam Archer) everything that could be seen on stage added to the overall comedy and spectacle of the performance. Worth mention, is the absurdist underwater scene, where the sudden slow-mo not only wonderfully showed the time-alternating features of being submerged but also added a welcome breath to the otherwise fast paced performance. Interspersed nicely throughout, was a healthy dose of real life magic, brought to the company by magic consultant Pete Firman, but performed with confidence by the cast.
Whilst there was certainly a lot of plot for ninety minutes, Dunlop manages to position a tight storyline within a flyaway comedy, that’s well open to the farcical. This was a performing team at their best - and with a tour’s worth of performances behind them they were clearly having fun on the stage and able to surrender to the silliness of the performance.
