Kitty Rats written and performed by Luke Bateman and Elliot Williams.

Kitty Rats, written and performed by Luke Bateman and Elliot Williams created in the style of “Bottom” by the late comedy genius Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in the early 1990’s.

Flatmates Benjamin and Jed embark on the job of trying to solve the mystery of who’s been in their flat that day and burgled them. However, this becomes lost along the way as they discover that something far more sinister has taken place. The would or would not be detectives then embark on rather unorthodox methods in concealing the incriminating evidence that they have discovered!

The opening scene is completely unexpected and takes you by surprise. That’s all I am willing to divulge. It sets the tone for the rest of the play. If you’re easily offended then this might not be for you.

Bateman and Williams show promising talent in Kitty Rats both as writers and performers who show a brilliant onstage rapport. Comedy of this genre isn’t an easy task to entertain audiences successfully as it can fast become a “messy slapstick” performance, which thankfully this didn’t. Their timings were very in tune with one another and it was clear to see that the actors have a close relationship on and off stage to be able to work together successfully.

Kitty Rats is not without faults. A few areas require some work within its content and needs to be edited quite harshly as some of the scenes were unnecessary and wouldn’t make any difference to the storyline if they were to be removed.

I honestly see a future series within this production and with the right direction, I could see the creators allowing Benjamin and Jed to do a bit more with their lives than they currently are. This particular production could be turned into two episodes as several themes are running through at once which could be developed further.

Director Kevin Davey and producer Joe Delafield certainly had a challenge on their hands at times with Kitty Rats. The fast-paced black comedy looked to be quite complex and swerved slightly off-piste in places.   Although it’s refreshing to see this form of risqué comedy being tried out on the stage. Hopefully, they both had as many laughs along the way as the audience.

For a first attempt by Bateman and Williams at writing this style of comedy, they succeded in producing a very funny, cringeworthy dark comedy which left the audience laughing and from my experience feeling slightly awkward at times which I believe the writers were e hoping for.

Three stars, although with some editing four stars are waiting to shine through.

For future venues and ticket information please check out the links below.

https://ticketing.mayflowerstudios.org.uk/festival-of-loveliness-kitty-rats-2021/43922

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/kitty-rats