Review by Steve Bennett

Cooped is yet another one of those silly, hammed-up but knowing romps that seem so prevalent on the fringe this year.

Thankfully, though, this take on the Victorian melodramatic shocker is as funny as the best of them.

And, despite a healthy dose of trendy postmodernism, this is reminiscent of nothing more than the inspired over-the-top silliness of the ancient radio show - and Goodies and Python precursor - I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again.

Laden with painful puns, deliberately wooden acting and desperate overplaying to the audience, this is all infused with a sense of innocent fun and plenty of inventive flourishes.

The plot - predictable nonsense about a girl, an imposing country house, mysterious screams and a Lurch-like butler - is, of course, completely incidental to the general tomfoolery.

And if the Spymonkey team couldn't jemmy a gag into the story well, they just invent a fantasy sequence for it - a device which leads to simply the funniest bit of full-frontal comedy around (the gratuitously clothes-shedding Andrew Clover, take note).

The humour does take a while to take a hold. As we are introduced to the proud 'actors' taking part in the show within a show, there's a distinct feeling of déjà vu - but thankfully this fun-loving team soon make the genre their own as they get stuck into their perfectly-performed physical comedy with relish.

Forget the highbrow, this is where the best laughs are to be had.

Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett