Writer: Shaun Nicholls
Director: Harry Al-Adwani
If only there were more story in this 55-minute office comedy about two clerks working in the basement of a mysterious corporation, while above them on the next floor, a Christmas party is in full swing, a Christmas party to which they have not been invited. This is the only story for well over a third of the show; instead, We Lost The File! focuses on the banter between would-be actor Tyler and would-be comedian Dusty.
Tyler has just been for an audition for Othello – he thought he was up for Iago, but the casting director had him down as chorus – and Dusty has just come back from a new-age retreat where she met someone who asked if she’d compere an open mic night. However, on the basis of the skits that they perform for each other, it’s apparent that Tyler isn’t the best actor, and ditsy Dusty is not very funny.
But blinkered to reality, both have plans to give up the day job of filing or shredding documents in their basement, especially when, eventually, they realise that they have lost an important file. For a set that’s full of boxes, it’s strange and frustrating that Tyler and Dusty continually search for the missing file in the same two boxes. It doesn’t bode well for success.
With a narrative so thin, it seems as if We Lost The File! has been created to showcase the acting skills of its two performers, especially those of Teddy Walker, who’s required to put on a few different accents. While Walker nails them, they add little to the story. What would a Southern Belle be doing working in a London office? Megan Marszal’s Dusty is a wonderful creation with her Bristolian twang and her self-delusions, but does she really have to be a sexual predator too?
Perhaps the story isn’t the thing, but writer Shaun Nicholls’ jokes need to be much funnier if We Lost The File! is to be, as the publicity promises, a mash-up of Die Hard and Gimme Gimme Gimme. However, the last joke of the evening is almost worth the wait.
Runs until 20 December 2025
