Book and lyrics: Bob McSmith and Tobly McSmith
Director: Michael Gyngell
When watching a show that is marketed as a ‘parody’, one expects that exaggeration, absurdity, and silliness will be at the core of the production. But, when FRIENDS! The Parody Musical lacks all the qualities of a parody, disappointment is the resounding feeling.
The atmosphere starts off strong – the audience of the New Wimbledon Theatre becomes the live studio audience of a recording of a Friends episode, complete with live camera feeds. But after a bizarre ‘warm-up act’ comes to do crowd work and tells us to turn off our smartwatches, the illusion and nostalgia of it being the 90s is broken. This defines the core problem of the show, which fails to find enough laughs to be a parody or enough coherence to be a good tribute.
The high point is that the show undeniably succeeds in its aesthetic. Jennie Quirk’s costume design is pitch-perfect, enough to prompt the occasional double-take if you’re sitting far enough back. Equally, Andrew Exeter’s sets could be straight from the screen, from the purple door to the sofa in Central Perk.
But this isn’t enough to make us ignore that the production fails to see Friends in any context. The beauty of the sitcom is that we can look back at it with nostalgia, acknowledging the iconic moments even if lots of it doesn’t age well. The awkward past is only very occasionally addressed, if at all, so the opportunity to explore and parody this is missed. Instead, the performers simply repeat familiar jokes from well-known episodes alongside, frankly, poor-quality songs. Thus, the production that is touted as a ‘side-splitting musical comedy’ reads more like a bizarrely earnest musical episode.
This isn’t to say the performers are bad – each actor gives an excellent vocal performance. Eva Hope’s Rachel/Jennifer Aniston is particularly uncanny and impressive. But a solid impersonation and the occasional jazz hands aren’t enough to cut through the eventual tedium.
Daniel Parkinson as Chandler brings the few moments that truly succeed in parodying. Chandler, as a character, is perhaps the easiest to parody anyway, but Parkinson’s particular exaggeration elevates the performance to camp levels that are finally entertaining to watch. There are a few other moments where the show actually works – Parkinson again singing a thrilling evil ballad as Janice, and rendering Marcel (Ross’s pet monkey from seasons 1 and 2) a Frenchman in a gorilla suit, finally deliver the silliness the audience is waiting for.
But these moments are unfortunately few and far between. The nail in the coffin comes after the interval when the completely unnecessary warm-up guy involves the audience in a multiple-choice quiz on different facts about Friends. Even one of the funniest songs towards the end of the show – a parody of Seasons of Love from Rent to break down the one-million-dollars-per-episode salary the actors were getting – doesn’t redeem this.
Perhaps if your love for Friends knows no bounds, and you are looking for something mildly entertaining to do on a weekday, this one’s for you. Otherwise, one to miss.
Runs until 24 January 2026 and continues to tour
