Lucky Stiff by Sedos

Wednesday 19th September I was privileged to review the production of ‘Lucky Stiff’ by Sedos at the Bridewell Theatre, London.

Lucky Stiff is a musical, murder mystery, farce based on the novel by Michael Butterworth’s, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. The show is based on the salesman Harry Witherspoon who works in a shoe shop often dreaming of a better life. Little does he know that his life is about to change, but in rather a strange way. Harry is the sole beneficiary of his American uncle, Anthony Hendon’s estate, worth 6 million dollars. However, there are certain conditions to this will that he must carry out before he will receive the full estate. Part of the conditions of the will, which have been recorded on a cassette player, is to fulfil his uncle Tony’s last wishes. This includes taking his dead uncle (a corpse in a wheelchair!) on a holiday to Monte Carlo along with a mysterious heart shaped box. Unfortunately, hot on his heels to Monte Carlo is the character Annabel Glick. She is from the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn and should Harry default on any of his uncles wishes, the entire inheritance will go to the dog home.

This production had a cast of only 12 people. Most of which had to lend themselves to a variety of roles. For many, I’m sure, would have been a challenge. However, the company took this challenge in their stride. This was clearly a full ensemble piece, where each person played their parts with great characterisations, however, some stand out performances came from Deborah Lean who played Rita the murderess hunting down her diamonds who’d stop at nothing to get hold them. Also, Jonathan Scott, in his debut performance for Sedos as Harry Witherspoon, took on the rather bizarre challenges with convincing aptitude.

The show was slick, well-rehearsed and did not disappoint. The comedic timing and farcical slapstick were faultless. The venue and minimalist set were perfect for this production.

The choreography was slick and imaginative and worked well for the whole cast. I particularly loved the tap routine. Can never put enough tap in in my opinion.

Huge congratulations must go to the whole production team for putting on a fabulous show. This show is a MUST to see and would recommend to anyone.

Review by Sally Smith

To find out more about Sedos and their future shows visit their website.

If you like this review you might also like the reviews of past Sedos’ shows including Little Women and Dogfight.