Review: The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy! (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh)

Review by Seth Wilby

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Comedy comes in many different forms. And from slapstick to stand-up, satire to spoof, you can find all sorts at the Edinburgh Fringe. So, there’s always a nice feeling when a group manage to stand out in the crowd, and build up a following through fringe success. And that is exactly what seems to be happening with Cabbage Productions, who follow the sell-out success of Spy Movie: The Play! with a brand new comedy about the mundanest of topics. But would The Librarians be something you should book, or might it just be fine?

Billed as ‘a very serious comedy’, The Librarians is, truthfully, not at all serious. Set at the fictional Plumstanton Library, which has been neglected by the modern day, we follow the staff as a new head librarian arrives and tries to save the library from being shut down before it’s too late. It’s a simple premise, compressed nicely into sixty minutes, executed to hilarious effect, in a farce that’s compelling, witty and fresh.

Written by Matthew Howell and Jack Stacey, The Librarians is, for want of a better term, very funny. Every opportunity for a joke has been seized, callbacks are made skillfully, and each line has been crafted meticulously for maximum comic effect. Although more laugh-every-few-minutes than laugh-a-second, certain scenes are totally riotous while others are works of genius (a section on small talk will stay with me for some time), having found the correct balance of slow-burn jokes and instant successes. More tame than the hysterical Spy Movie, there's a subtlety to much of the humour that invites both admiration and amusement, proving Howell and Stacey to be excellently clever comic writers, who are certainly ones to watch.

By covering such a broad range of humour, there are laughs in there for everyone. Mainly dominated by wordplay, they also understand the importance of observational comedy, satire and even something as simple as someone falling over, although some jokes are as dated as the concept of public libraries themselves (a Jackie Weaver reference sticks out, but I’ll admit that I still chuckled). In a script seamlessly interweaving all of the above and more, with a balanced pace that lets the jokes land without breath, and then builds them to heights you didn’t think reachable, it's an assuredly entertaining hour.

Interestingly, the play stretches beyond humour, acting nearly as a state-of-the-nation commentary. While this is certainly secondary in the production, mainly hidden between the lines, it still manages to open up some interesting discussions, with the use of humour a fascinating façade in front of a much-needed love letter to local libraries, as opposed to anything totally damning. There’s also a mystery element to the plot, which proves genuinely compelling, with neither of these more sincere aspects feeling neglected in favour of cheap gags.

The Librarians sits nicely as a meeting between TV sitcoms and Mischief plays, and this is no surprise. Howell and Stacey worked together on The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and many of the rest of the cast are Mischief alumni too. This is shown in the natural comic abilities of the entire ensemble (Howell and Stacey are joined by Jo Hartland, Billie Hamer, and James Watterson), with pristinely polished timing and the admirable ability to treat each joke with the utmost authenticity and realism, avoiding any character (all of whom we genuinely root for) from becoming a caricature. 

As Assistant Head Librarian Harry Wordsworth (no relation), Matthew Howell is simply marvellous. Demonstrating natural ‘funny bones’, Howell can elicit laughs from any line delivery, each little reaction, and even by his general demeanour (one moment sees him clambering around the set to follow a wire, which is ridiculously funny), excelling in particular in his scenes with Stacey’s character. Named simply ‘Work Experience’, Stacey totally steals the show, delivering all the best lines with such a hilariously likeable personality that earns your laughter through persistence and consistency. I challenge you to find a cast at the Fringe with better natural comic skills than this lot.

Against a wooden, hand-crafted looking set, The Librarians is a sidesplittingly witty hour that feels birthed from a genuine love for the art form, certain to make you smile. Proving that a comedy can be both very serious and very silly, the writing displays comic prowess that I hope brings big things to Howell and Stacey.

The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy plays at Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Two) at 15:15 until 31st August. Tickets from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-librarians-a-very-serious-comedy

Photo by Jonny Ruff