Hasland Theatre Company’s The Unfriend – 17 November 2025, Chesterfield Playhouse
Review by Nicola Bourne.
Already a fan of Steven Moffat’s writing in shows such as Doctor Who and Sherlock, I was naturally enthusiastic about seeing his first stage play “The Unfriend” and, knowing it was originally directed by The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss, it gave me yet another reason to look forward to the show, in the hope that some of his alternative comedy stardust, that I love so much, might have been sprinkled over the production. Starting its life in 2022, before transferring to the West End, it found a new home, last night, with Hasland Theatre Company, who successfully put on a “laugh a minute” performance and achieved the comedy highlights of the original production.
The play itself is best described as a contemporary comedy, with an obvious old-style sitcom feel to it, complete with quick-fire one-liners. Its laughs rely heavily on its British audience recognising themselves in two of the main characters, Peter and Debbie; a reserved, suburban couple, who opt for politeness over frankness and who will do anything to avoid a socially awkward confrontation. Having met the brash, Trump loving American, Elsa, on a cruise ship, they agree to keep in touch; a move which lands them in trouble, when Elsa invites herself to stay with them, just a few months later. A quick Google search informs them that their visitor is, most likely, a serial murderer, and instead of doing the safe, sensible thing and retracting their offer, they find themselves navigating the ensuing discomfort with typical British politeness and middle-class diplomacy. Like so many good comedies, it has cringeworthy moments and tense exchanges; events brought about purely because the couple have an aversion to appearing anything but nice to their murderous guest! The laughs come easy because a British audience can easily identify with their social dilemma.
Chris Revill and Heather Davies were perfect as Peter and Debbie, their comic timing and delivery being spot on for the roles of laid-back husband and despairing wife. I felt, between the two of them, that there was an overall feeling of a Lee Mack style comedy show, maybe due to the speed and simplicity of funny lines, which probably explains why Lee Mack was so well cast as Peter in the West End version of the play. There was a great scene where the audience saw them successfully confront Elsa about her murderous past, soon followed by a funny realisation that this was just an imaginary practice run. The actual confrontation didn’t go half as well!
Chris’s toilet scene with Harry Nixon, as PC Junkin, got the whole audience laughing at some well-acted slapstick and crude toilet humour, as he crossed the line of what was socially acceptable, while Harry played the oblivious PC, missing all cues that might suggest something strange was afoot. They delivered many funny lines between them!
Likewise, Heather was especially funny in her meltdown scene, where she addressed her “new normal” of having a serial poisoner cooking for her and her family, and raged that she had spent her “entire life not killing anyone”, unlike “Mary chuffing Poppins”, a reference to Elsa’s unexpected improvement to some aspects of their family life.
Their son and daughter, Alex and Rosie (both typical parent-hating teenagers, despising each other and everyone else around them) became more compassionate, less lazy and more well-rounded young adults, under Elsa’s influence. Both Alfie Evans and Grace Biggs had their acting debuts with the Company, in these roles, and did a great job playing blunt, angry teenagers with attitude. One of the most entertaining scenes involved them questioning the lie that their grandma was dying, which, of course, was an excuse by their parents to get Elsa out of their house!
Nicky Beards’ Elsa was as vivacious and over-the-top as her garish outfits. There was a naturalness to her Denver accent and a believable aspect to her character, which could, in the wrong hands, have appeared too exaggerated and absurd. She delivered her inappropriate comments and offensive remarks in a typical “loud American” manner and was particularly funny in her “OMG” moment, critiquing her own mug shot, instead of explaining why she had one in the first place. I loved Nicky Beards in this role. She was a perfect choice for playing Elsa and I’m not sure her performance could have been improved upon.
Rob Dean made his character of boring neighbour so tedious, that I almost forgot him! Only joking! Though I still don’t know what his name was, and I doubt anyone in the family would be able to tell me either! Judgemental and passive aggressive, he successfully irritated everyone in the house (though he clearly had an equally monotonous wife at home!)
Olivia Brooks has directed a very entertaining show, with The Unfriend, and has stuck closely to the original version. The comedy genre isn’t always the easiest to showcase, but with such good writing at their disposal, the cast and crew have done a great job in piecing everything else together. This production was, absolutely, so much fun to watch and it was good to hear the audience laugh so much and so often! Everyone, including myself, clearly had a great night! With that in mind, I think this is likely my favourite show that I’ve seen, so far, by Hasland Theatre Company!
Now, as to whether Elsa was, indeed, a murderer, or whether we should be doubting everything we see on the internet, that’s something to find out for yourself! No spoilers here, I’m afraid!!!
