THE UNFRIEND
Wyndham’s Theatre until March 9 Tickets: 0344 482 5151
What happens on a holiday cruise should stay on a holiday cruise. That seems to be the message of Stephen Moffat’s comedy starring Lee Mack and Sarah Alexander as Brit couple Peter and Debbie whose shipboard friendship with brash American Elsa (Frances Barber) has unforeseen consequences.
Exchanging contact details with the garish, multiple widow they are taken by surprise when she accepts their casual invitation to visit them if she comes to the UK.
While their two children, bookish Rosie (Maddie Holiday) and whining Alex (Jem Matthews) find themselves increasingly spellbound by this gilded stranger, Peter and Debbie are too polite to evict their overstaying guest.
Their agitation increases when they discover she may be a serial murderer. Having helmed the Doctor Who reboot among many successful dramas and comedies for TV, Moffat packs plenty of gags into his first play but fails to create credible characters.
Directed by the ubiquitous Mark Gatiss, it romps along engagingly enough, though he might have reined in Mack’s tendency towards full body gurning.
The women hold the fort with Barber’s magnificently monstrous Elsa delivering her lines like Bette Davis as Baby Jane, and Alexander as the straight foil to her scenerynibbling co-stars.
It’s fun, undoubtedly, but from the talents involved I expected something a little more substantial.
■ Baby, it’s cold outside and for those theatregoers who’d rather not risk catching pneumonia there is the option of watching plays in the comfort of your own home via streaming services.
The following reviews are of two plays available from the National Theatre’s superbly curated online website – ntathome – that are well worth the annual subscription or the three- day rental.