Inside No.9 Stage/Fright at the Wyndham's Theatre

To quote an old friend: I don’t deal well with horror. This fact has never prevented me from falling in love with the genre. As a fan of much older works of the dark comedy duo of Shearsmith and Pemberton, Inside No. 9 is a treat in many ways. A classic mix of the pair's well-known comedy meeting tragedy, and gore meeting giggles; This show is a marvel to behold and a beautiful love letter to a decade of phenomenal television. 

To highlight where my opinions on this show are coming from, we must go back a few years to 2013, where I at 16 years of age discovered a small dark comedy series from the late 1990s on the BBC. A fitting reflection of the world of skit comedy at the time of its release, The League of Gentlemen highlighted the range that Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Mark Gatiss have as actors, taking on characters that went from silly to downright horrifying. So in 2014, I was ecstatic to hear that two of the four gentlemen were releasing a new anthology series. 

The birth of the Emmy-winning series highlighted from the get-go that these two knew how to frighten, fascinate and end with a brutal hit on the funny bone. Over a decade later this pair still manage to keep their writing fresh and gruesome, giving you a tale that will stay with you, lurking in the shadows. 

This show highlights all the best parts of what makes the series so memorable, from clever little nods towards fan favourite jokes to familiar names all wrapped up in a neat 2 act spectacle. 

My fully spoiler-free opinions are as follows: If you love the show, go see this. If you love watching talented actors not miss a single beat and raise an excruciating amount of tension to let it shatter with a laugh; go see this. If you love a good naughty joke followed by a vivid splash of gore: go see this show. It is a delightful piece of macabre entertainment!

If you are a fan of Inside No. 9 and do not wish to be spoiled by the plot of this show, I do strongly recommend trying to see this fantastic show live. The warnings given do serve as a heads-up straight right away. But especially the introduction of this stunning show does deserve to be witnessed in person.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

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My Review:

The opening of new shows recently have been making very good use of actors reminding theatregoers to switch off their mobile phones but this one has to take the cake. 

One of the programmes available at the Wyndham's Theatre is a beautiful deluxe programme that comes with a small script for “A House Divided”, a short play written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. The show opens with a short section from this doing what this pair do best. 

In a 10-minute segment, we watch Shearsmith take on the role of a theatre patron surrounded by an ever increasing crowd of inconsiderate spectators to which the only reasonable solution is to brutally murder all of them. The section ends with Shearsmith addressing the crowd, splattered in fresh blood, reminding them they are “In the Theatre”. A stunningly fresh take that nudges audience members to respect those around them, which unfortunately didn’t prevent such behaviours happening but did put me at ease, knowing murder is a reasonable solution. 

Following this, we are graced with a gorgeous rendition of the extended opening theme music. The shrill of live violins after a fittingly twisted introduction sets the perfect tone for the entire show.

After a blackout jumpscare and thoroughly violent opening there is only one thing left for this to feel like a true tribute to Inside No. 9: Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room - You remember it don’t ya? 

As someone who followed the speculation of what this show would contain after its announcement in the Series 9 finale, I was hoping for at least a small nod to this beautiful award-winning episode. What we got was all of it. A stunning on-stage adaptation of the whole episode within a mix of beautifully meta comedy and scares. 

Blending the majority of Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room with references to Sardines, A Quiet Night In, Mulberry Close and I believe a small costume nod to Riddle of the Sphinx, this phenomenal first act focuses more on the comedy that this pair have come to be known for both in terms of writing and delivery. Adding the addition of a special guest every show is also bound to make every viewing an individually entertaining piece of theatre. 

Ending and beginning each act with jumpscares continues the preset tone of this experience as we enter into a production of Terror in the Asylum. As we watch the play unfold, using a beautiful mix of tension snapped by quick wit and classic writing of the pair, we are given back-to-back violence, dark humour and gore that leaves an impact no matter where you’re sitting. 

Those familiar with the series know that many of the principal characters have been summaries of humanity's worst traits. I say the following as a huge compliment: This pair are very good at playing seedy perverts. Act 2 highlights this many times as Terror in the Asylum brings a new story to the world of number nine. A lot of what I've covered so far is twists that fans of the series are familiar with. I will not be spoiling how this new segment unfolds, but I will mention the section contains visually violent depictions of self-mutilation and heavy-handed jokes about sexual assault under the influence. This newer segment also highlights how beautifully tension can be built in a theatre with the help of some technical witchcraft. 

The show ends with a beautifully meta summary of the love of friendship and horror. A stunning visual spectacle that is worth revisiting - if you dare! 

In summary, this show is for the fans. A gorgeous combination of old nods in a beautiful theatre that makes use of every inch of its stunning architecture to bring a chill down the spines of 800 people at once. 

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Content Warnings:

The show has content warnings clearly displayed around the foyer and throughout the theatre, which were as follows:

• Violence

• Bad Langauge

• Firearm discharged

• Liberal use of wordplay (highlighted as Chekhov's Pun)

The following section will contain trigger mentions but no spoilers as to when or how they happen. I’m writing this section to highlight the fact that I, as a long-time fan of this exact style of horror, still managed to be taken aback by some of the scenes that unfolded. Shearsmith and Pemberton are amazing at their special brand of shock horror but even as a long-time enjoyer, I want to ensure that other fans in my position who may be extra sensitive to any of the following topics are aware they are included, no matter how lightly or quickly they are moved on from.

• Paedophilia within a church setting

• Self-mutilation in the form of cutting off your own leg 

• Acid used as a weapon 

• Visual effect makeup showing a person's eye hanging out of their skull

• Murder in the following methods: 

  • Anaphylactic shock

  • Electric shock

  • Caving in of a Skull 

  • Shooting 

  • Decapitation

  • Drilling into a skull 

  • Broken neck 

  • Crushed to death by a light fixture

• Racial Stereotypes portrayed through accents (with immediate acknowledgement) 

• Extensive swearing 

• Implied sexual assault 

• Descriptions of and implied sexual coercion 

• Implied rape 

• Death from Alcoholism 

• Homelessness

• Kidnapping

• Descriptions of infidelity 

• Audio Jumpscares

• Instant Blackouts 

• Tricks of the light to create the appearance of ghostly presences

Some of these trigger warnings are within the show's opening, highlighted by Steve Pemberton himself. But these do occur after 6 of the warnings above have already happened. 

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Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope this review has proved interesting and helpful for you :)

- AnxiousTheatregoer