Noël Coward theatre, London
Described as ‘the cure for theatre’ by producer Sonia Friedman, Alex Owen and Ben Ashenden’s debut play is full of heart, pleasing pratfalls and endless flips of perspective
Announcing it earlier this autumn, producer Sonia Friedman hailed this show as “the cure for theatre”. But theatre is still contagious as far as the government is concerned – and The Comeback’s opening performances are to be its last, for a while. That’s a crying shame: this backstage farce by double act The Pin is great fun, and will be even more so when Alex Owen, Ben Ashenden and their helpers bed in to its particular haywire rhythms.
The Comeback started life as a 55-minute Edinburgh fringe show, which imagined “Alex and Ben” as a support act for a veteran, vaudeville twosome, now named Jimmy and Sid. Ashenden and Owen play both duos, vying for stage space and the attention of a Hollywood big shot in the crowd, in what evolves into a quickfire, costume-changing, chase-around-the-curtain caper. The DIY overambition that was part of its charm in Edinburgh has had to be sacrificed. In its place, there’s more heart – though worn a bit too prominently on its sleeve towards the end.