Writer: Harry Petty
Co-Creators: Ollie Hart and Harry Warren
Stressed, hardworking film caterer Harry and his sidekick, wannabe actor Ollie, have been friends since childhood and went to drama school together. It is the last day of a three-month-long shoot for a low-concept sword and sorcery flick, directed by narcissistic Italian auteur Sebastian Conti. The boys are preparing for this evening’s wrap party and some well-deserved rest.
The complications? Harry (Harry Warren) has just been dumped by his philandering girlfriend. Meanwhile, the duo must contend with a chaotic parade of film-set eccentrics—all embodied in dizzying quick-change succession by Warren and co-star Ollie Hart. Clipboard-wielding Assistant Site Manager Claire wants to shut their van down for health-and-safety violations. Moustached RADA graduate Gordon insists Ollie help him remain in character for his minor role. Lilly, Conti’s posh, TikTok-obsessed PA, wants coffee with a dog-biscuit garnish. Northerner Mickey demands vegan sausage rolls. Hollywood superstar Tim, rather too obviously modelled on Tom Cruise (“this film is a mission – an impossible mission”), demands magic mushroom tea. Can the central friendship survive the day amid all this narrative stuffing?
A stellar future in sitcom writing beckons for writer Harry Petty, for this is firmly the territory Wrap Party inhabits. Think a rather less caustic version of TV’s Extras. The self-sabotaging duo’s central relationship possesses genuine pathos, thanks to top-notch comic turns from Hart and Warren. There are plenty of laughs along the way, and palpable dramatic tension emerges when the pair’s emotional crisis hits two-thirds of the way through.
What is missing, however, is much in the way of a credible storyline. Farcical shenanigans in the form of one-night stands and mixed-up milkshakes get in the way rather than inform. The thinly drawn stock characters are something of an encumbrance in so short a piece, even if we might grow fond of them by season two. One wishes the creators had stuck to exploring the likeable dynamic between the two leads and saved the eccentric excursions for episode two.
Reviewed on 24 August 2026.
Camden Fringe runs until 30 August 2026
