The Cherry Orchid – Broken Gods Productions / The Drayton Arms Theatre, London

Broken Gods take over The Drayton Arms Theatre with The Cherry Orchid, a fun spoof of spy thrillers that I would describe as light-hearted if it weren’t for the body count.

The Cherry Orchid

The Cherry Orchid (not, you will notice, The Cherry Orchard), is a likeable comedy three-hander by Calum McArthur (who also directs) in a production by Broken Gods.  It’s one that grows on you.  I was not totally convinced at the outset if I’m honest: this is very much parody humour, making light of spy thrillers.  Subtle, it is not.  Toilet humour, there is more than you could shake a dildo at.  But with good performances and engaging twists and turns, grow on me it did.

The Cherry Orchard starts with a protagonist we know only as The Homeowner (Tom Lane) straightening his home and caring for his much-loved orchid.  Something he spends a lot of time doing, clearly.  Until, that is, assassin Agent James King (Gregor Copeland) literally crashes into his life.  There’s been some sort of mix up (classic): this should be King’s safe house, not our clean freak’s new home!  What’s going to happen now, with more assassins on King’s tail?

I’m not about to spoil the plot now, am I?  But there are lots of those twists and turns I mentioned, plus various smaller roles played by Hannah Clancy-Hughes, who has a real talent for accents.  We get a bit of character development as well as the action, and even a flashback. If The Cherry Orchid is constrained by anything, I believe it’s a shoestring budget.  Disbelief must be suspended a few times over, and a bit more in the way of prop and costume budget might have helped it to further reach its potential.  But they’ve not done badly with what they have, to be fair. It’s fun. It’s silly. And it’s got just enough substance that you can’t quite see where it’s going ahead of time. Crucial for a good action plotline!

So I recommend heading along to it.  The Drayton Arms pub beneath the theatre is a nice one, so you may want to come early for a bite to eat.  Definitely take an icy drink upstairs with you as the theatre space is sweltering on warm days.  And enjoy a play which doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

The Cherry Orchid on until 28 September 2024.  More info and tickets here.