A Mad World My Masters review, Barbican Theatre

It was a bad call to see A Mad World My Masters with one of my few teetotal friends. Just in case 'Jacobean sex romp' isn't in itself enough of a promise of fun ahead, the team behind A Mad World My Masters have turned it into a manic end-of-the-pier production where cliche is loaded onto stereotypes who're loaded into awkward, seaside postcard, bottoms-in-air tableaus. It should be funny. It is funny. But it's not funny enough. Not without a large vodka or three beforehand.

Sean Foley's production of Thomas Middleton's original is a joint venture between the Royal Shakespeare Company and English Touring Theatre. If I had seen it while weekending in Brighton or at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, it would feel just right. In the large and formal space that is the Barbican, it looks and feels am dram even though it clearly isn't - the actors are terrific, the set is plausible, and there's beautiful singing from Linda John-Pierre.

The story is gloriously silly. Dick Follywit is trying to trick his uncle, Sir Bounteous Peersucker, into handing him his inheritance while still alive. Meanwhile Mr Littledick is sending his wife to a nun for moral guidance. The nun is actually the local prostitute, Truly Kidman, in costume. Mrs Littledick is borrowing Truly's bed for marathon rogering sessions with a man who also favours wearing costume.  It is A Mad World My Masters. Truly's mum has stitched her and sold her as a virgin 15 times, and there's a classic scene where Bounteous and Dick Follywit are trussed.

In conclusion: A Mad World My Masters is set in 1950s Soho and that fits the content perfectly: innocent yet seedy, young yet jaded, brimming energy yet tired. The cast including Joe Bannister, Ellie Beaven, and Sarah Ridgeway is great fun. With a bevy in hand, it might have been better. As it was, we emerged wishing we'd smiled less and laughed more.

References
A Mad World My Masters, Tickets

Barbican Theatre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS                            Run ends May 9