Plague! The Musical

This is what you come to the fringe for – a show that sounds like a really bad idea and then surprises you with its wit, inventive staging and all-round fun.

A musical comedy about the plague, with characters including giant rats, the pied piper, a mad alchemist and Death herself ought to be a non-starter, but Matthew Townend and David Massingham capture exactly the right spirit of panto-like silliness to make it a delight.

Porl Matthews plays a country lad come to London, where he is befriended by Tim Frost’s apprentice undertaker and falls for the dark beauty played by Catriana Sandison. Meanwhile, plots and counterplots by the undertaker, the alchemist and some mutant rats make the body count rise until the overworked Death has had enough.

The songs are all witty and lightly self-mocking, from the opening salute to the glories and horrors of London through the mock-dramatic Nail Down the Coffin of Your Past. Jill Hamilton’s choreography makes a virtue out of a modest budget and small stage, Robert Massingham’s colourful projections add to the cartoon feel, and everyone onstage actually seems to be having as much fun as the audience.