Well, there was me thinking that Christmas was a done thing. Ha! There was one last un-pulled cracker behind the StageTalk sofa.

The New Old Friends Comedy Company has teamed up with the Lichfield Garrick theatre to present a very adult take on the 12 Days of Christmas. A cast of just four peopled the Ustinov stage with 13 characters, circling each other with festive paranoia as the bumping off began, Agatha Christie style, one by one.

Crimes Against Christmas is fun, fast and very silly, but isn’t that just what we need as we fearfully tread into 2017? Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell are the founders of New Old Friends. Their entertaining knockabout brew of romp and mayhem has been amplified this time by the engaging antics of actors Dan Winter and Jonny McClean. All four of them wouldn’t look out of place in black and white silent films, their hilarious facial expressions every bit as important as the plot – all rolling eyeballs, raised eyebrows, gaping mouths and gurning lips – also reminiscent of a slightly older version of the Young Ones at times.

Dunlop, as Artridge, was our suave host and narrator – a 39 Steps Richard Hannay type with suit, loose tie and trilby hat. In this pulsating tale about hunting down a missing priceless artifact, he journeys to a remote island where he and 12 other disparate souls that include a priest, a Russian princess (Fukdivino), a Texan oil magnate, an Italian art thief and rap artist Turtle and his girlfriend seek the answer as to why they have all been invited to an old Duke’s house on Richtenstan island.

Counting down from 12, each of the ‘guests’ cops it accordingly. On a set with three revolving doors and a fourth and fifth entrance also available, Dunlop & Co turn the stage into a weather clock on acid as the body count grows.

There were some standout performances: McClean’s rubber-faced antics as the old Duke, rapper Turtle, the dastardly Italian Crimine and as the butler were worth the entrance price alone. Westwell’s Russian princess was hilarious, especially when enjoying the effects of her beloved vodka, while Winter’s apoplectic priest was a study in suppressed fear and outrage. Dunlop’s regular forays into the footlights kept us up to speed with plot and passings.

As just four players took the final bow to an appreciative audience you couldn’t help wondering where the other nine characters had disappeared off to! Great fun.   ★★★★☆    Simon Bishop   4^th January 2016