Pirates: You Wouldn’t Steal a Boat – Museum of Comedy, London

Writers: Kit Livsey and Matthew Davies

Director: Kit Livsey

Promising a ‘High seas low brow comedy adventure’, Spruce Moose Comedy, a group composed of ex-Footlights regulars, bring a wildly frantic parody of a pirate story to the deck with their first play, delivering a show that is as close as it gets to classical fringe theatre.

Co-writer Matthew Davies takes on the lead role of ‘Sharkbait’ Mulligan, who, along with his smart but over-obedient intern Louis(Ahmed Amer), is ejected from the crew of Captain Codpiece(Ali Sabir), who intends to search for an undisclosed treasure. Sharkbait and Louis decide to recruit their own team to find the treasure, but end up saddled with a caricature of Pirates of the Caribbean’s Will Turner, eternally pining for his love and speaking in poetic nonsense. Along the way, the team encounter many colourful characters played by the ensemble(Ariel Hebditch and Alexander Denley Spencer), who both help and hinder their quest.

The script reads like a slot in a sketch show, with absurd set-ups, dynamic characters, and recurring gags. Not only are the characters self-aware, but often self-destructive both within the world of the story and out of it, playing its low production value in their comedic favour by breaking props and knocking over set pieces with the unbroken confidence of a well-established comedy troupe.

Squeezed into their 50-minute slot on an 8x4ft stage, the company manage to tell a fully comprehensive story, with recurring plot points, A, B and C stories, conflict and resolution, complete with a knock-off Orlando Bloom, a slowly-deflating palm tree, and a considerable amount of alcohol(with fictional sponsorship). The style of humour shifts in a fittingly erratic way between wordplay, physical comedy, cringe-worthy puns and scathing satire that showcases the range of both the writers and the cast, managing to play to their strengths throughout.

Unprofound, unpredictable, and utterly unhinged, Pirates establishes itself as a prime piece of fringe theatre that exhibits the absurdist comedy of classic troupe performance.

Runs until 5 August 2023, then Edinburgh Fringe