Devil in the Detail

Loosely based on Victorian one-act play Box and Cox, Devil in the Detail is a canny tale of two saps, an accountant and a night watchman, whose avaricious landlady is renting them the same room.

The gimmick is that this is all performed silently, with the actors in big, alluring cartoon-like masks. However, far from hiding the emotions of the characters, it allows the actors to focus on the physical presentation.
And it makes the silliness of the plot much easier to take, as Jack Read's devious landlady with her extravagant daughter (Sarah Thom) rearrange the bedroom morning and night. There is plenty of funny business to be had as they wait for each tenant to leave, taking a polaroid each time and turning the pictures round.
There is a bigger picture, too. Alan Riley's accountant works for the mob and skims money off every drug deal he oversees. While James Greaves as the dim night watchman has a secret pet under the bed who could well turn round and bite them all.
Director Toby Wilsher, who is also writer and creator of the masks, has constructed something which is a lot more complex and satisfying than it first looks.