Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ award-winning collaborations in TV on Doctor Who, Sherlock and Dracula have been a treat in recent years. And now the writing pair have put their heads together in their writing (Moffat) and directing (Gatiss) stage debuts respectively. The result is new comedy The Unfriend, which recently transferred to the West End from Chichester Festival. Join them is a cast that the duo are very familiar with: Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Amanda Abbington (Sherlock) and Frances Barber (Doctor Who). Naturally, we were excited to see what had been cooked up and can honestly say we were amused, but only mildly.
Going into The Unfriend we were half expecting a commentary on the jarring difference between British and American social communication amid the current culture wars. Now there is a little of that, but really the play is more a simple farce that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of My Family, with its main set being pretty reminiscent of the one in the classic sitcom.
The production opens on a cruise ship where an awkward middle-class British couple meets a brash Trump-supporting American. They really have no intention of staying in contact with her, yet out of politeness end up sharing their contact details. What follows is an unwanted visit from Elsa Jean Krakowski, who they learn just before her arrival is a highly suspected murderer.
The main three cast members do bring the laughs, although the weaker and short second half was let down by a drawn-out piece of toilet humour that quickly became tiresome. Although we will admit we didn’t see that ending coming.
Overall, there’s nothing wrong with the extended sitcom episode vibe that this production brings, but given this a 1 hour 40 minutes play with steep West End prices at the premium end, the question is whether it’s really worth it and if you’ll remember it the next day.
The Unfriend is performed at the Criterion Theatre until April 16 with tickets from £20 that can be booked here.
