Upon reading the synopsis for Theatre Group’s latest production of Let’s Get Lade you could be forgiven for believing the show would be quite a serious affair. In fact, you could quite easily believe you’re about to watch a spy drama with danger elements and a possible kidnap scenario – which in a way, you are. However, not by any stretch of the imagination is this to be taken seriously.

Let’s Get Lade is based in the New York Plaza Hotel in 1964, a time when the Beatles were an up and coming band and when there is still tension between the Soviet Union, Germany and the US. It tells the story of a room mix up where desk clerk Alex secretly allows his brother Freddie to use the Penthouse suite to ‘woo’ the lovely Gabriella. However the CIA and hotel manager have also arranged for the same room to hide out Henry Lade, an author who is under suspicion for writing the foreign enemies secret plans in his fiction novels, hence each sending out assassins or ‘hookers’ to end Lade. This could all be a story on its own, but throw in accident-prone CIA Agent Parker, a rather aggressive Bertha (Freddie’s slightly psychotic wife) and some rather interesting Beetle wigs the plot becomes even more in depth, all adding to the hilarity of it all.

The last line of the synopsis reads ‘what could possibly go wrong?’ Well, as storylines go, the answer is absolutely everything. But this isn’t a mistake. Quite the opposite, it’s all part of director Luke Haywood’s clever vision to create a comedy where you never know what could quits happen next; it is what makes the show so gripping. Theatre Group have truly pulled off what is one of the best comedies of this theatre season and the actors and production team all deserve serious credit for such a fantastic show combining, unexpected twists, laugh a minute dialogue and fascinating characters that you truly root for.

Emily Willson

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