‘We finally ran out of ideas!” jokes Reece Shearsmith towards the end of this maiden stage outing for the hit horror-comedy Inside No 9. The TV show ended after nine series and 55 episodes, each one a surprise. So are Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton now winding down? Not a bit, if Stage/Fright is any guide. From its murderous prologue on – hands-down the most memorable mobile phone announcement ever made in a theatre – this live show is as twisty and unpredictable as the best of their episodes on the BBC.
Some of those episodes are recalled here, in a two hours-plus performance that retains the TV series’ anthology spirit. You don’t leave feeling like you’ve seen one play but several. There’s the retread of series four yarn Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room, which casts Shearsmith and Pemberton as former end-of-the-pier double act Cheese and Crackers, reuniting for a last feeble hurrah in a draughty church hall. There’s the kidnap scene (ostensibly one of Cheese and Crackers’ sketches) in which a celebrity guest is taken hostage and obliged to improvise their way out of trouble.
