This is London Magazine April Edition 2026 - Flipbook - Page 27
The Comedy About Spies 2025 – Henry Shields, Dave Hearn and Nancy Zamit.
Photo: Mark Senior
THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES
RETURNS TO WEST END
The co-writer of The Comedy About
Spies, Henry Lewis and producer Kenny
Wax have announced that Mischief’s
hilarious, award-winning production is
returning to London this summer. The
production has been nominated for an
Olivier Award for Best New
Entertainment or Comedy Play.
Following its sold out 21-week season
in 2025, the critically acclaimed hit will
begin performances at London’s Adelphi
Theatre on Saturday 1 August, and play an
8 week season through until Saturday
26 September. The Comedy About Spies
is written by original Mischief members
Henry Lewis and Henry Shields and
directed by Matt DiCarlo.
When a rogue British agent pilfers
plans for a top-secret weapon, CIA and
KGB spies converge on London’s
Piccadilly Hotel in pursuit of the elusive
file. Add to the mix a clueless young
couple, a hapless actor angling for the
role of James Bond, and enough double
agents to confuse even the sharpest
operative, and you've got a mission
that’s hilariously out of control.
With over 12 impressive years of
bringing laughter to the West End,
Mischief show no sign of slowing down
in 2026. This year, as well as having
The Play That Goes Wrong and The
Comedy About Spies running
simultaneously in the West End, the
company will also launch their first-ever
musical, Thespians.
Following a sold out UK Tour and
8-week West End season last year,
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong will return
to cause chaos this Christmas and The
Play That Goes Wrong, which continues
to perform to sell-out audiences in the
West End after 12 smash-hit years, is
also celebrating 9 years in New York in
April, and is being performed in multiple
languages worldwide every day in 2026.
The Comedy about Spies is presented
by Kenny Wax and Stage Presence in
association with Jo Danvers.
Grace Pervades: Miranda Raison and
Photo: Marc Brenner
Ralph Fiennes.
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DAVID
HARE’S TEETH 'N' SMILES
Producers Wessex Grove and Gavin
Kalin Productions are presenting the
50th Anniversary West End revival of
David Hare’s rebel play, Teeth ‘n’ Smiles,
at the Duke of York’s theatre until 6 June.
David Hare said: ‘It’s thrilling for me
to watch Rebecca Lucy Taylor and a
brilliant ensemble revive the play that
shook the plaster off the ceiling of the
Royal Court Theatre just fifty years ago.’
Before the New York Dolls. Before
Debbie Harry. Before Kurt Cobain. There
was Maggie Frisby. Once the roaring
voice of 60s counterculture, now broke
and disillusioned, a band’s youthful
dreams of anarchic rebellion collapse
into bitterness.
Amidst the wreckage, lead singer
Maggie tears through the night fuelled
by booze, fury, and a voice that refuses
to die.
50 years after David Hare’s
trailblazing play set The Royal Court
alight, Teeth ‘n’ Smiles is ready to burn
things down all over again!
WEST END SEASON OF
GRACE PERVADES
The West End transfer of Grace
Pervades opens at the Theatre Royal
Haymarket, with performances from
24 April to 11 July. This highly
anticipated West End production follows
its sell-out premiere at the Theatre Royal
Bath last summer as part of the Ralph
Fiennes / Theatre Royal Bath Season.
Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Raison
reprise their roles as Henry Irving and
Ellen Terry, the greatest stars of the
Victorian stage. David Hare’s new play
chronicles their careers, and those of
Ellen’s troubled and brilliant children –
Edith Craig and Edward Gordon Craig –
who made their own profound
contribution to the development of
British theatre. Edith and Edward will be
played by Ruby Ashbourne Serkis and
Jordan Metcalfe, returning to their roles
from the 2025 production.
T H I S I S L O N D O N M A G A Z I N E • T H I S I S L O N D O N O N L I N E • w w w. t i l . c o m • @ t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g
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