ÔÿåÔÿåÔÿåÔÿåÔÿå – A must see!

By Hannah Stait

This Wednesday I was ecstatic to be among many going to see Mischief Movie Night at CardiffÔÇÖs New Theatre. The atmosphere was incredible as we got together for a night of improvised comedy genius!

Starring the original cast of ÔÇÿThe Play that Goes WrongÔÇÖ and their BBC counterparts ÔÇÿPeter Pan Goes WrongÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿA Christmas Carol Goes WrongÔÇÖ. Mischief Theatre is back with a new hilarious show in which the audience control what happens on stage! The setup for this one of a kind show entails a fully improvised movie based entirely on the audiences suggestion as conducted by our very own leader Oscar as portrayed by Jonathan Sayer. This means that every show is one of a kind never been seen before spectacular. First, we had to choose a genre – and after a very enthusiastic gentlemen shouted ÔÇÿPorn!ÔÇÖ across the theatre (quickly being told a defining no) we managed to narrow it down to Kung-Fu or Disney, a regular choice I have to make if I do say so myself! After some back and forth it was decided that Disney would be our chosen genre and the next task was to find ourselves a setting for our tale.

Now if I had to guess what a room of Welsh people would suggest, this would definitely be on my list! The valley that is home to the hero next door, thatÔÇÖs right itÔÇÖs Fireman SamÔÇÖs very own, Pontypandy. ThereÔÇÖs something magical about watching a show that you know has never been seen before, but also something weird about watching people play out a Disney movie set in the make believe Welsh town of PontypandyÔǪ you really do have to see it to believe it! What followed was an amazing show performed by what seems to be an incredibly close and talented group who hilariously tried their hardest to plot out an entire movie and they certainly managed to put the mischief in Mischief Movie Night. The show was as informal as can be in the best way possible, you didnÔÇÖt feel like you were watching a play but more like you were having a fun night in with your friends. The simple staging meant that we as an audience really got to use our imagination as the group on stage had minimal props to work with – that didnÔÇÖt stop them setting the scene though as with help of some off stage magicians we were able to put ourselves in Pontypandy as we followed the locals (A* for effort on the Welsh Accents too folks!) through their Disney epic. The biggest thing to remember with shows like this is that anything can happen. I mean it…..anything.

Put it this way, the movie opened with a happy go lucky song about the happiness of living in Pontypandy and went forward to a Princess whose father consumed her object friends by swallowing Fanny the Fan and sticking Francois the Flannel up his, um.. behind, shall we say.Couple that with a protagonist whose best friend is a talking Lasagna who sounds like Sylvester Stallone and youÔÇÖve got yourself an incredible (albeit slightly weird) full length movie!To me the best part of shows like this is that every night is different and trust me when I say that if I had the funds I would have booked to see it every night.

This group had me in fits of laughter plenty of time throughout the evening and their written shows are equally as hilarious so be sure to check them out in the future.

For ticket information visit: thttps://mischieftheatre.co.uk/