‘There won’t be a dry seat in the house…’
I’m a firm believer in providing spoiler warnings for reviews and for this one, I really cannot state enough how vital it is not to read this review if you are planning on seeing the Inside No. 9 live show at some point. There were so many magical moments here that were particularly satisfying because I didn’t see them coming. I wouldn’t want to rob anyone of that. Now that’s out of the way. Let’s get into it…
Inside no. 9, the exquisite anthology series created by League of Gentlemen co-creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton has just wrapped up for good after nine untouchable seasons for the BBC. In the wake of that final episode, the long-time comedy duo announced a live show to run exclusively at Wyndham’s Theatre in the heart of London’s West End. Excited is an understatement.
The show begins with the lights suddenly going out and an unearthly banging sound blaring out of the speakers. Dear reader, I shat myself. Interestingly, Ghost Stories, the hugely successful play created by fellow League of Gentleman alumni Jeremy Dyson also starts the same way. Following that, rather than just a boring sign telling people not to use their mobile phones or talk during the show (or masturbate), there is a five-minute tableau that sees Shearsmith sat in a row of theatre seats facing the audience, the conceit being that he is in the audience to watch a performance of Hamlet. This descends into a murderous rampage following the arrival of an incredibly annoying woman and her elderly father as well as Pemberton as a mobile phone-clutching businessman. The curtain falls, two violinists appear on the balcony to play an extended version of the Inside No. 9 theme tune, we’re only ten minutes in and it’s already brilliant.
The main part of the show begins with our two protagonists introducing the show and also introducing the audience to the legend of Bloody Belle, a myth that I assume was created for the performance. It goes like this. Belle was an actress at the Wyndham in the 1920s who was accidentally killed when a stunt went wrong on stage. Now, she purportedly stalks the hallways and corridors waiting to curse whoever she comes across. We’ll come back to Belle and her bloody business in the second half.
The first half of the evening is like a greatest hits of the TV show with the main inspiration being the season four episode Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room, with nods also to A Quiet Night In, Sardines and probably others that I missed. Like the original episode, it’s funny, sweet and utterly unique. In a move that feels very them, Shearsmith and Pemberton have had a different guest star every night for this segment with Sandi Toksvig doing the honours on this particular night and unsurprisingly performing admirably (no surprise when considering her history with improv) and while I won’t give too much away, this hilarious segment is sure to be a highlight no matter who steps in as the guest star.
The second half is an entirely new story that is essentially about the aforementioned Bloody Belle but with plenty of twists, turns and false endings on the way. This section is pointedly more frightening and indebted to the early British horror films that Shearsmith in particular loves so much. As with much of their material, it walks a fine line between parody and homage but does so with so much skill and affection that it’s impossible not to get swept up by it all, especially as there are moments of genuine tension and fear throughout.
The show wraps up with a final word from the twisted minds that brought us the TV show and now the stage show that has wowed audiences for over a decade. It’s an oddly touching conclusion (with a healthy dollop of black humour) that feels like the perfect end to a beloved intellectual property. If this is to be the end, then I will conclude this review with what feels like the highest praise possible – Stage/Fright exceeded my already sky-high expectations. I genuinely didn’t think such a thing was possible.
