Following a sold-out 2025 season, the award-winning team behind The Play That Goes Wrong brings their critically acclaimed hit The Comedy About Spies to London’s Adelphi Theatre for an exclusive 8-week run until 26 September 2026. This marks the first non-musical play to grace the Adelphi’s iconic stage in over 14 years!
Fresh off winning Best New Play at the 2026 WhatsOnStage Awards and earning an Olivier Award nomination, this high-energy farce promises non-stop miscommunication and trademark Mischief mayhem.
Written by founding Mischief members Henry Lewis and Henry Shields, the plot is a classic, breathless farce that trades in their signature collapsing set pieces for the sleek, high-stakes paranoia of 1960s London based espionage. The story unfolds at the Piccadilly Hotel where CIA and KGB operatives, a clueless young couple caught in the crossfire, and a hapless actor striving to play James Bond collide over top-secret weapon plans. What follows is a masterclass in tangled identities, relentless door-slamming, and split-second physical comedy.
Director Matt DiCarlo keeps the pace at a breakneck sprint, ensuring the audience never has more than a few seconds to catch their breath between punchlines. David Farley’s clever set design captures the glossy vintage charm of a sixties hotel while harboring enough secret passages, hidden compartments, and swinging doors to keep the cast operating at peak kinetic energy.
While The Play That Goes Wrong built its empire on slapstick chaos, The Comedy About Spies proves that Mischief’s sharpest weapon is actually their wit. The dialogue is packed with linguistic gymnastics and absurd innuendo that has audience of all ages in helpless tears of laughter.
If you are looking for an uproarious, razor-sharp theatrical escape to cap off the summer, this limited run is an absolute must-see. Grab your tickets before the curtain comes down on 26 September; this is one London based mission you will definitely want to accept.
Beyond The Comedy About Spies, 2026 is shaping up to be an big year for the Mischief team in London. The Play That Goes Wrong: Celebrates over 12 years in the West End (passing its 4,000th performance at the Duchess Theatre) and Christmas Carol Goes Wrong returns for Christmas 2026 with a West End run at Wyndham’s Theatre.
The comedy about spies is at Adelphi Theatre until 26 September. Tickets from £15. Recommended for all theatre goers over the age of 10.