Derbyshire-based Rumpus Theatre Company is back on the road with a revival of John Goodrum’s 2003 farce The Comedy of Terrors.
The plot involves Jo Smith arriving for an audition with director Vyvian Jones. It turns out she’s actually been invited to the theatre by Vyvian's twin brother, Beverley, who wants her to impersonate her twin sister, Fiona, to persuade Vyvian that Beverley hasn’t had a fling with Fiona. He has, but doesn't want Vyvian to tell his fiancée, Cheryl.
When the real Fiona turns up, not to mention Vyvian—a member of the local Sons of Satan Association, who wants to use Jo for his first human sacrifice—and Beverley and Vyvian’s identical triplet policeman brother, “the stage is well and truly set for a fast-moving madcap comedy of multiple mistaken identity”.
Goodrum, who is also appearing in Rumpus’s tour of George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man, will play the Joneses in The Comedy of Terrors, while Sarah Wynne Kordas, another Rumpus regular, will take the roles of the Smiths. Karen Henson directs.
The Comedy of Terrors will tour to Runcorn, Middlesbrough, Beccles, Basingstoke, Swindon and Stafford until Thursday 14 November before taking a break. It will resume on Saturday 22 February 2025 at Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham and will continue at Tunbridge Wells, Winchester and the Isle of Wight until Tuesday 20 May.