Dragon Review: Thespians, At The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 23 Jun, 2026
Updated on: 23 Jun, 2026

Adonis struggles to be popular in Thespians – the first musical to be produced by Mischief. All pictures by Mark Senior

By Ferenc Hepp

You have probably heard of The Play That Goes Wrong, produced by Mischief, who have toured with their productions at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre previously. This time, they bring their worldwide premiere, and first musical, Thespians to the Guildford stage.

We are told at the offset by the Bard (Matt Cavendish) and Rhapsodes (Allie Dart) that unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints, the usual mass Greek Chorus is replaced by a chorus of two. And it’s them. This sets the theme to an evening of musical madness mainly set in the island of Ikaria, with a population of 16½. The set is designed by Jasmine Swan, and it is inspired by Grecian classical architecture, but deliberately slightly historically inaccurate and wonky.

Everything is moved around by the cast, in character, which helps the production achieve its fast pace; essential for this style of comedy. We soon get into our first chorus number, where we discover that Ikaria is suffering from drought and they are praying to Dionysus for some well-needed rain.

The Tyrant can do whatever she wants

The style throughout is madcap and exaggerated, reminiscent of a mixture of anything from pantomime to the Book of Mormon.

The characters are not as you imagine them to be. Atlas (Luke Latchman) is weak and vulnerable and likes to remember all the rules of the island. Adonis (Marc Pickering) is a geek with a metal six pack to make himself look muscly, and the others laugh at him. Thespis (James Spence) is the handsome hero of the piece with the good physique, which he makes the most of as the action unfolds.

Cavendish and Dart have a great comic chemistry on stage and make regular appearances to narrate and move the action forward. Latchman and Spence play very different characters, but there is a link between them, which we discover after the interval, and they both show their vulnerabilities in their own ways. The journey they are both on is funny but touching at the same time, perfectly achieved by both actors.

Pickering as Adonis is hilarious, but at the same time we sometimes feel guilty for laughing at him, as he is clearly trying to be something he isn’t deep down.

The big chorus numbers are all highlights, and the choreography by Melody Sinclair-Marsh is not too complicated but imaginative and fits the style perfectly. However, there are also notable solos by most of the cast with a wide range of singing voices. Some needed a little warming up, but all the numbers are performed with plenty of personality and humour.

The action culminates in Dionysia, a prayer competition, where Thespis becomes the hero for inventing the craft of acting, and where we see The Tyrant (Rhys Taylor) become very jealous of his success. Taylor is the baddie of the piece until the very end, where there is a plot twist; however, she does need a little more pantomime villain characteristic.

There are plenty of belly laughs, plenty of camp, but some sentiment and even a message about being true to ourselves and being able to be who we really are, with obviously a big chorus number to close the show.

According to the director (Robyn Grant), she needed “a company of incredibly skilled performers – artists as comfortable with razor-sharp comedy as they are with full-throttle musical theatre”. She has found them.

Thespians runs from June 30th – July 4th and tickets are available via www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or 01483 440000.