Those Magnificent Men

Review by: Paul Towers, 15/2/19

Those Magnificent Men by Brian Mitchell & Joseph Nixon

An Ornate Johnsons & The Foundry Group presentation for Leicester Comedy Festival

Upstairs @ The Western, 15 & 16 Feb 2019

“hilariously entertaining and educational”

Year in year out The Foundry Group return to Upstairs at The Western to tickle our laughter buds with diverse productions such as The Ministry of Biscuits, Gilbert (No Sullivan) and Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks. This year was a welcome reprise of Those Magnificent Men, a tongue in cheek homage to the bravery, ingenuity and sheer British spunk of aviation innovators John Alcock and Arthur Brown, the first people to fly non stop across the Atlantic Ocean.

In trademark Foundry Group style the daredevil story of daring do is told with a mixture of comedy and drama. We sat in the audience, hearts in our mouths, as the intrepid pair coaxed their converted Vickers biplane (2 tables, a couple of chairs and 4 broom sticks) across more than 1000 miles of fog bound sea with only the most primitive of  instruments to, just, land safely in West Ireland to national acclaim.

Played with relish by the author Brian Mitchell and long time side kick David Mountfield this is an hilariously entertaining and educational story of old fashioned Boys Own adventuring. Both actors play an array of characters, often with outrageously inappropriate accents. As always The Foundry Group stage their shows on a shoestring but the make-do props and scenery only add to the hilarity.

Those Magnificent Men is on again tomorrow (Saturday) with limited tickets available. Grab a seat and prepare for an evening of adventure by the seat of your pants.

Upstairs at The Western http://upstairsatthewestern.com/
Details of the continuing tour can be found at www.foundrygroup.co.uk

First published in Western Gazette