21 – 24 January

A sold-out house, an audience already primed to cheer and a gleaming Best Elvis Tribute Act (aged 55+ Southwest Region 2025) trophy on display. The Spy Who Loved Me Tender arrives riding a wave of goodwill, and for the most part it knows exactly how to surf it.

At the centre is Ian Pollock, playing an exaggerated version of himself: an award-winning Elvis tribute act dreaming up the ultimate genre collision, a James Bond musical with Elvis as 007. But the true star of the show is Susie Donkin’s Josephine Cunningham. As tour manager, technical fixer and revolving cast of Bond-world roles, she drives the evening with formidable energy, comic instinct and sheer graft, keeping the whole enterprise upright and alive.

The production leans proudly into lo-fi theatricality. Costumes sparkle, props are small and plentiful, and set-pieces are conjured with whatever is to hand. It is scrappy, affectionate and frequently very funny. When the gags land, they land hard: shadow-play Bond girls, a snake-charming sequence, miniature action scenes with dolls and toy cars, and an accordion-led Bond theme for laser cutting all get proper laughs. The audience is clearly with them.

That said, the structure is baggy. It takes a good fifteen minutes to feel like the show has properly started, and the narrative thread comes and goes. There is heavy reliance on audience participation, which is warmly received but not always shaped into something comic, leaving stretches that feel uneven. Missed lines and skipped beats are noticeable, and a little more tightening would go a long way.

What carries it through is commitment and charm. Pollock’s swaggering presence is softened by his obvious enthusiasm, while Donkin’s relentless momentum provides the show’s spine whenever it threatens to wobble. The production understands its audience and plays to them generously. By the time “Nobody Does It Better” rolls around, the room is swaying, smiling and fully on board.

This is not slick theatre, and the blow-up doll finale feels like the one misjudged gag in an otherwise affectionate parody. But as a chaotic, nostalgic, DIY night out, it succeeds. The Spy Who Loved Me Tender may be rough around the edges, but it delivers laughs, warmth and a crowd very glad they came.

★★★☆☆  Tilly Marshall,  22 January 2026