Marc Pickering, Claire-Marie Hall, Ashley Tucker, Josh Patel-Foster, Mia Jerome, James Spence, Luke Latchman and Curtis Patrick in Thespians at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford. Picture: Mark Senior
Thespians: Greece the Musical (But Not That One) was reviewed at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford. The tour continues until 18 July 2026.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Mischief, the award-winning team of comedy geniuses behind The Play That Goes Wrong and much more, enters the amphitheatre of musical theatre with Thespians. Set in Ancient Greece circa 534BC, the show sees the five-strong population of the tiny island of Ikaria travel to Athens to participate in the high-stakes Dionysia festival, intended to appease the gods and free the nation from drought. The competition leads the eponymous Thespis inadvertently to invent the discipline of acting, bringing down the house as well as the rain and granting him fame of epic proportions.
True to form for a Mischief production, Jonathan Sayer and Ed Zanders’ new musical delivers laugh after endless laugh, and the well-scripted Greek puns fly thick and fast (though I’m not going to be a pain in the ‘Pythagor-ass’ by giving any of them away here). Enlivened by Robyn Grant’s vibrant direction, Thespians builds by degrees to its mayhem-fuelled and almost tirelessly farcical climax.
Act I unfolds very much in the manner of an ensemble show, crystallising around the Ikarians. James Spence heads the cast as Thespis, opposite Claire-Marie Hall’s charming Poly, Luke Latchman’s pernickety Atlas and a suitably matriarchal Mia Jerome as the vision-stricken, love-struck elder Melampus.
Marc Pickering stands out as the self-absorbed wannabe Adonis (one wonders if Narcissus ever visited Ikaria – they’d get on very well). Joining them are Matt Cavendish as Bard and Allie Dart as Rhapsodes, self-described as a chorus of two due to budgetary restrictions, who somewhat improbably fulfil multiple incongruous roles.
Equally noteworthy, though sadly somewhat in the background until Act II, are The Tyrant, played in a deliciously pantomime-villain vein by Rhys Taylor, plus supporting cast Josh Patel-Foster, Ashley Tucker and Curtis Patrick – arguably a missed opportunity to exploit or subvert the millennia-old theatrical trope of the Greek chorus.
Mirroring the cracks that develop within the tight-knit Ikarian community, Act II also yields more solo opportunities for the likes of Latchman’s Atlas and Jerome’s Melampus, the latter’s ‘The Old Man Tango’ being a highlight of the show.
Zanders’ versatile score features a range of popular styles, romping along delightfully under the musical direction of Ben Smith (keys), together with Helen Bennett (clarinet/woodwind), Elisheba Stevens (cello) and Tom Hutchison (drums/percussion).
Melody Sinclair-Marsh’s quirky choreography provides the perfect complement to the music, against the backdrop of Jasmine Swan’s attractive set, modelled on Grecian architecture with just a hint of The Flintstones thrown in for good measure.
Ultimately, this is a show about identity and self-discovery. Whether in the only real solo of Act I, ‘The Girl Who Knows Everything’, beautifully sung by Hall, or the preceding expository trio, ‘We Are Who We Are’, or in Atlas’ growing recognition of his feelings for one of his fellow Ikarians, or Thespis’ discovering himself as an actor (and, indeed, discovering acting itself), as the story progresses we witness our protagonists increasingly finding out who they truly are.
Thespians offers comedy, chaos and catchy tunes, and by Zeus, it’s an entertaining show. Its UK premiere tour returns to Guildford at the end of the month by popular demand, and with good reason. Let’s hope Mischief’s inaugural musical is not its last.
Christopher Wiley
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