Tom Hopcroft, George Hannigan, Sean Carey & Damian Lynch at The Comedy About a Bank Robbery post-show Q&A chaired by Terri Paddock at the West End's Criterion Theatre on 19 September 2019

My post-show talk at The Comedy About a Bank Robbery on 19 September 2019

What fun to return to the Criterion Theatre to see a brand-new cast put their stamp on Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, as the first in a series of monthly post-show Q&As with the comic geniuses.

In fact, while new to London, many of them recent drama school graduates making their West End debuts, this company has already clocked up over 300 performances of The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, having starred in the show’s first UK and Ireland tour, which visited more than 30 venues up and down the British Isles between August 2018 and June 2019, before taking over here at the Criterion where Mischief’s heist hit is now in its fourth year.

It’s Summer 1958 in this fast-paced comedy caper. Minneapolis City Bank has been entrusted with a priceless diamond. An escaped convict is dead set on pocketing the gem with the help of his screwball sidekick, trickster girlfriend… and the maintenance man. With mistaken identities, love triangles and hidden agendas, even the most reputable can’t be trusted. In a town where everyone’s a crook, who will end up bagging the jewel?

After last night’s performance, I was joined by cast members David Coomber, Liam Jeavons, Tom Hopcroft, George Hannigan, Sean Carey, Damian Lynch, Julie Cullen, Ashley Tucker, Julia Frith and Ross Virgo.

  • How many international Mischief family members have they met?
  • How long do they have to rehearse?
  • What do Canadians think of their accents?
  • Why do all actors want to be in Mischief shows?
  • Who has the craziest story of how they made their Mischief ‘membership card’?
  • How many people are backstage making the magic possible?
  • What advice do this crop of crooks have for the Groan Ups company ahead of opening?

And, of course, the codebook and ‘goes wrong’ questions!

This and much more covered! Watch the full post-show Q&A video below. Next up in my Mischief series in the West End, I’ll speak to the writers and founding company members at Groan Ups on 17 October at the Vaudeville Theatre and will then return to the company’s original hit The Play That Goes Wrong on 19 November at the Duchess Theatre.

The Comedy About a Bank Robbery is booking at the Criterion Theatre until May 2020.

Q&A video

Q&A photos

Event photography by Peter Jones.

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