Lee Mack and Frances Barber excel in Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s comedy

‘What is the worst thing you could suddenly find out about the person who’s coming to stay in your house for a week?’ Debbie asks her husband, Peter. She has just looked up Elsa Jean Krakowski on the internet; a loud American woman whom the middle-class, British couple met on a cruise, exchanged emails with and then subsequently discovered that Elsa intends to turn up and stay with them. Peter replies, ‘I don’t know …. a murderer?’

Having a murderer living in your house with you and your children for a week isn’t ideal. It is however a brilliant comic hook for a play. The Unfriend is written by Steven Moffat and directed by Mark Gatiss; it premiered in Chichester, before having a West End run last year. It has now returned to London, playing at Wyndham’s Theatre. Over the course of the evening, Moffat cleverly captures the essence of British politeness taken to an extreme with a zany plot based on Peter and Debbie’s seeming inability to tell their uninvited “guest” to leave. If only you could just ‘unfriend’ someone in real life, like you can do online.

Frances Barber shines in the role of Elsa. She is one of the few returning cast members, but her performance feels fresh and unpredictable, effortlessly switching between personas of a diva superstar, a children’s television presenter and something more sinister. She has a captivating stage presence and has crafted the perfect voice for this character – a piercing American accent reminiscent of older theatrical agents (I’m thinking of a Denver version of Estelle from Friends).

Lee Mack and Sarah Alexander are extremely likable as Peter and Debbie. Alexander delivers some very witty lines – ‘We’re dying of manners!’. Comedian Lee Mack perfectly captures the essence of a father who constantly appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. He is often the butt of the joke and Mack’s skilful comedic talents allow the audience to laugh at his misfortunes.

There are some scene stealing performances from the supporting cast. Jem Mathews and Maddie Holiday are brilliant in their portrayal of the teenage children, played in a comedically heightened way, yet without it feeling forced. Mazz Khan’s expressions and reactions as the policeman are hilarious and some of the best moments are Nick Sampson’s portrayal of the passive aggressive neighbour, bubbling with glee as he winds Peter up.

There is some very smart staging from Mark Gatiss, who is currently starring as Sir John Gielgud in The Motive and The Cue, next door at the Noel Coward Theatre. He understands comedy and exaggeration, and while the overall tone of the piece tends to remain the same (light and silly), he has done an excellent job executing it. Robert Jones’ stage design is effective at conveying the claustrophobia created by all these characters in one place, and there’s some clever video design and animation from Andrzej Goulding.

Although both the script and the acting are humorous, certain sections feel slightly too drawn out and there are some over laboured jokes. The performance clocks in at just under two hours (including an interval), but the lack of sub-plots or cliff-hangers make it feel as though it would be better suited to ninety minutes straight through.  

For a writer whose work has often achieved acclaim for deconstructing some of literature’s best known stories and protagonists (Sherlock, Dracula etc.), it struck me when I heard in an interview that Gatiss did where he said that Moffatt was interested in the ‘well-constructed stage comedies’ of Neil Simon. Moffat is clearly a student of classic comic structure and farce and I can sense the influences of possibly Noel Coward and Alan Ayckbourn. The show is neat and perfectly charming. Original? Not entirely. But it’s jolly good fun, and built perfectly for a UK tour which I hope it gets the chance to do and give many more people an entertaining evening. Although, what I’m secretly hoping for is for Moffat to write another play about murder, but this time with high consequences and unexpected plot twists. Alas, I am too British and polite to say that out loud.

The Unfriend is playing at Wyndham’s Theatre until 9 March 2024