Theatre review: Hell’s Bells by Lynne Truss, Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33), Edinburgh

By LEE RANDALL
Published on 07/08/2012 11:48

THE screenwriter, the star, and a hat historian converge in a recording studio to lay down commentary for the DVD release of Mrs Milliner, a telly programme overshadowed and ultimately destroyed by the super-successful House of Elliot, in this play penned by the Eats, Shoots & Leaves author – who, some may be aware, is also responsible for a clutch of very funny novels.

Hell’s Bells By Lynne Truss

Pleasance Courtyard (venue 33)

Rating: ***

This sprightly romp moves at speed, but would have been better on film, since being able to see the actors disarranging props in the not-quite-dark diminishes the comic punch of the play’s ending. That’s not the actors’ fault, and their measured performances are enjoyable as they lay bare the inherent humour in the OTT behaviour of egotistical performers, and the hatter’s overly encyclopaedic delight in headgear. (He gets his own back at their mocking, in magnificent fashion.)

Characters who don’t appear are as vivid as those on stage, from the ingénue whose breakout job this was – about whom they are vicious in the extreme – to the hapless actor who barely survived the series’ shoot, so accident-prone was he. Via giggle-inducing bitchery, Truss explores the bigger themes of professional jealousy and disappointment, without slowing down the action.

• Until 27 August. Today 11:45am.