The Stage

The Penny Dreadfuls: Aeneas Faversham Forever

Published Thursday 13 March 2008 at 12:05 by Thom Dibdin

The Penny Dreadfuls have made an easy step of their move from sketch format to fully-scripted comedy with this villainous piece of derring-do.

This is once again Victorian times, London while Tower Bridge nears completion to be precise. Innocent children’s book author, Rufus Hambleden, is caught up in Lucius Frost’s dastardly plot to turn the bridge into an instrument to resurrect the dreaded god-being, Oysters McGee.

While straying into the world of parody, where the Victorian detective novel and adventure fiction are happy hunting grounds, the Dreadfuls write their strongest material while simply using the era and its sensibilities as their starting points. It is fantastical enough on its own to sustain the comedy and the biggest laughs are observational rather than from constructed jokes.

Making a real virtue of their set-free production, this is still very much sketch territory where the basic, slightly formal costumes are accessorised with what ever lies to hand to help distinguish the dozen or so different characters. Great use is made of Neil Hobbs’ simple yet effective lighting design to create place - from locked cupboard to midnight graveyard - while Hobbs’ soundtrack adds another layer of comedy.

The company’s improvisation roots show through in their strong on-stage rapport and willingness to drive each other to corpsing. While there is not typecasting among the trio, David Reed provides a strong leading man, Humphrey Ker a truly sinister evil villain and Thom Tuck moves vividly and easily from what ever extreme is demanded of him.

Great fun with plenty of room for expansion and further adventures.