Having seen some of Sleeping Trees’ previous shows, my expectations were high for this comedy-theatre performance, presented in a rotating bill parodying either the ‘mafia’ or ‘western’ genre. The inclusion of a live three-piece, The Physics House Band, on stage made this production particularly distinctive. First, spatially, as the set-up immediately becomes more gig-like than theatrical, leaving the actors with a limited amount of room (nonetheless used very well) and secondly by bringing a vibrancy and energy to what is already a highly vibrant and energetic performance.

In Mafia?, we are presented with an hilarious take on The Godfather, a classic tale involving young boy ‘Johnny’ who desperately yearns to be a gangster at any expense. What results is a playful and skilled mining of the genre for all it is worth, including puns aplenty, the introduction of a huge variety of amusing characters and some very funny movement sequences. Sleeping Trees’ approach of demolishing and reconstructing well-known narratives is particularly effective in the this genre. There is much comic potential in characters who take themselves so seriously, and the resulting misunderstandings are set up and resolved very well.

Each performer in this three-piece company is highly skilled, but John Woodburn particularly stands out in terms of his ability to multi-role and introduce elements of the ridiculous with a slickness that made them wholly convincing. The company’s trademark style of slipping between timeframes, freezing the action, and using direct audience address are all in evidence here, and the addition of the live band to provide sound effects as well as musical accompaniment creates a great sense of pace and fun.