Writers: Thomas Billiouw and Dany Van Brabant
Director: Jillian Osborne
Thomas Billiouw and Dany Van Brabant’s Wilder! mashes up French farce with Hollywood’s Mr and Mrs Smith and throws in a dash of The Thursday Murder Club for good measure. The visual comedy works well, courtesy of snappy comic direction from Jillian Osborne and solid performances from the ensemble cast of five. The dialogue is not quite as funny as it ought to be, and the laughs are mostly at the chuckle level. Still, there is much to enjoy in a piece that feels in need of more development.
Phyllis (Jess Vince-Moin gives a masterclass in aspirated onset vocal technique), the redoubtable chair of the Newport Village Garden Club, has a problem. The club’s Annual Landmark Festival kicks off in a week, and the sub-committee leader in charge has gone AWOL.
Desperate for a replacement, Phyllis and her sidekick Sheryl-Anne (Kgalalelo Thakadu) dispatch club minion Martha (Evie Weldon) to persuade the reluctant village newcomers, Gloria (Dany Van Brabant with a glorious cherry-coloured wig) and her husband Gregory (Thomas Billiouw boasts an impressively static kiss curl), to take responsibility for the festival. Phyllis is willing to use every tool at her disposal, including blackmail, to get the task done.
Meanwhile, crimson-bedecked Gloria and Gregory, who live a comfortable 1950s lifestyle and read French magazines, have a secret. Every year on their wedding anniversary, they murder somebody. “I know you prefer men”, Gloria says in a tone of annoyance, “but perhaps this year we can try a woman”. Gregory wants out of the annual arrangement, much to Gloria’s chagrin. She is known as a “very capable assassin”, and as she proudly tells us, “Killing is the one thing that makes me extraordinary”.
This being a farce, the two narrative strands intersect in a cascade of intricate plot mechanics and chaotic misunderstandings. Anticipate bloody murder, marital strife (brought to life in very impressive fight direction from Becca Was), kidnapping, and betrayal. The body count is, be warned, substantial.
Runs until 12 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
