Discover what is being said about the sold out run stage adaptation of the television show with our review round up.
Broadway World: *** “Shearsmith and Pemberton are on fine form charging it with sparky wattage, fully flexing their elastic range by embracing the kitschy costumes, set changes, and slapstick dynamics of comedy double acts. Director Simon Evans deftly counterbalances the comedy with buttock clenching tension – the tricksy live camera work conjures the jittery haphazardness of a found footage flick.”
The Standard: *** “It’s decent fun, directed with knockabout energy and great timing by Simon Evans. Pemberton and Shearsmith are mordantly likeable. The production springs endless witty surprises that critics have been asked not to spoil and dismemberments are staged with gruesome effectiveness by illusionist John Bulleid.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “But what I can tell you is that Stage/Fright has all the classic No. 9 trimmings. Recycled gags? Tick. An element of surprise? Tick. And the cherished pair giving it their everything? Oh absolutely.”
The Guardian: **** “It’s a slickly produced spooky wheeze, distinguished by Shearsmith and Pemberton’s clearly personal obsession with the double-act dynamic and old-school entertainment, and with theatres and their ghosts. One gets the impression they’d happily haunt the Wyndham’s stage centuries hence – failing which, the echo of tonight’s gasps and giggles should at least linger for quite some time.”
The Independent: **** “TV mavericks Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have oodles of fun playing with all the possibilities of this new medium.”
All That Dazzles: ***** “Simon Evans directs the play with flair, finding ways to bring Pemberton and Shearsmith’s writing and ideas to life in increasingly creative and dynamic ways.”
WhatsOnstage: **** “There are moments of sheer fright, but there are also a lot of joyously silly jokes, both physical – the understudy stuck in a cupboard who can barely walk, she is so cramped – and verbal. “If you want to truly shock people, show them the bar prices.””
Time Out: **** “Stage/Fright is a tribute to a theatre and the stage life in a broader sense – the play-within-a-play second act is informed by a genuine love of the theatre and a series of West End Wendy in jokes that may baffle non-theatre nerds – the spoofing of Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard during the second half is particularly delightful, especially when it audaciously segues into a found-footage horror homage. Theatres have featured in Inside No. 9 every now and again – but this feels like the duo’s real love letter to the medium and the buildings.”
The Telegraph: **** “Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith prove their mettle with an evening that gives the audience a good laugh – and a valuable fright.”
Radio Times: ***** “While comedy-horror is a genre that may succeed on television, there is always a certain scepticism when anything is adapted for the stage. I can assure you, however, that audiences won’t be disappointed at what’s in store.”
City Am: ** “Inside No 9 – Stage/Fright isn’t bad, as such, more frustrating. Indeed it’s far more interesting retrospectively than it is in the moment.”
The Stage: *** Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s entertaining stage spin-off of their acclaimed TV series is short on shivers.”
To book tickets (which will be returns) visit: https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/whats-on/inside-no-9-stage-fright