When Colin receives an anonymous package, he is bemused and appalled by what he finds inside.
He should just ignore it… But who would send him such a thing – and why did they put it in a cake box?
Colin immediately finds himself battling all-new levels of existential angst. He’s really not built for this sort of scrutiny, and his instinctive response is to trawl through his entire life – turning everything over – convinced that he can channel Poirot and unmask the offending sender. But as his sister Lisa and her husband Brian desperately scramble to save him from heading down this particularly murky rabbit-hole, it isn’t long before Colin’s list of possible suspects has gotten way out of control and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to smoke the culprit out.
The Gift is an irreverent comedy that unashamedly dives into the murky waters of past transgressions and modern-day vengeance, all-the-while fully prepared to get low down and dirty in the process. Because what should you do when someone tries to seriously upset your applecart? Should you take it in your stride? See the funny side? Or rest at nothing until the perpetrator is found and made to pay?
__Assisted Performances:__
Relaxed - Thu 30 Jan 15.00
Captioned - Fri 7 Feb 19.30 & Mon 17 Feb 19.30
Audio Described - Thu 13 Feb 19.30, with touch tour at 18.30
The Gift is a decidedly fun watch and most certainly offers a great way to spend an evening absorbed in something that takes your mind away from the deluge of the human experience. In this sense, the play takes us back to the theatre of yore, intended to serve as a means of escape.
All in all, this is an overlong, lightweight comedy that would benefit from a trim and a rewrite. A tighter comic tempo might also save those jokes that linger too long (like when the two men have a rant over work email lingo while Lisa watches on, as bored as we are after a while). It’s a shame that even those instances that should be comically grand ultimately fall flat, but it’s also difficult to pinpoint the reason they do. It’s not the gift it’s supposed to be. It's innocuous and inoffensive, but also unexciting and very boring.
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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