IN Tom Sharpe’s latest instalment of farcical misadventures – after Wilt In Nowhere five years ago – comes a comedy of errors much to do with slapstick reversals.
It all begins with the Gropes, an ancient matriarchy from Northumberland, whose long line of powerful women are the result of a coerced tryst between a seasick Viking and an unsightly nun.
In present-day Croydon, Vera has taken her husband, timid banker Horace and their “love child” Esmond, hostage in her Barbara Cartland-inspired fantasy world.
They both attempt to escape her clutches and there follows a series of hilarious, if improbable, mishaps. A riotous, albeit laboured effort.
Trisha Andres
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