Spymonkey brings Cooped to Liverpool Playhouse

Spymonkey returns to the Liverpool Playhouse this week following its seasonal success with A Christmas Carol.

The Brighton-based theatre company, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, presents its gothic romance Cooped from June 4-8.

It’s one of a small number of dates for the show in the UK before Spymonkey heads to the US.

Described as Hitchcock’s Rebecca meets The Pink Panther, Spymonkey’s characteristically demented take on the pulp gothic romance promises brilliant characters, rip-roaring farce and virtuoso physical comedy.

Beautiful, fawn-like Laura du Lay arrives in the heart of darkest Northumberlandshirehampton to work for the reclusive Forbes Murdston. She has ignored for as long as she can the unsettling rumours that surround him and his ominous manservant Klaus.

If only Roger Parchment, the family lawyer, were not so obviously in love with her. Then she could confide in him her darkest fears: Is Forbes really the killer who lurks in the darkness?

A Christmas Carol at Liverpool Playhouse. Photo by Johan Persson

Spymonkey co-artistic director Toby Park describes the company as: “A glorious bunch of idiots who like to make seriously ridiculous theatre.”

So what of Cooped, getting its first outing in the UK since 2013?

“I think it is the purest piece of silliness we have ever made, just so much joy on one stage,” he says. “It’s so brimming with ideas and treats for the audience, like a magic box that keeps revealing new surprises.”

The show is directed by Cal McCrystal (One Man, Two Guvnors, Paddington), who has collaborated with Spymonkey since it premiered its inaugural production, Stiff, two decades ago, and is well-known to Liverpool audiences for his work at the Royal Court including The Royal and The Scouse Nativity.

Cooped is at the Liverpool Playhouse from June 4-8. Tickets from the website HERE