Summary of Reviews:

CRITICS CHOICE - Time Out “Dark and Divine”
CRITICS CHOICE - The London Paper “I laughed so much I sounded like a goose in distress”
CRITICS CHOICE - Scotland on Sunday
CRITICS CHOICE - Islington Gazette
CRITICS CHOICE - Spoonfed “Honed to perfection… Hilarious”

“Think “A Bit of Fry and Laurie” with a dash of “Ripping Yarns” and a twist of “Big Train”… Grab the chance to catch the Dreadfuls live” - The Guardian

- British Theatre Guide (2006 & 2007)
“In your top ten of best fringe shows ever”
- Three Weeks (2006 & 2007)

- Broadway Baby (2006 & 2007)

- Edinburgh Festivals Magazine (2007)

- FringeReview.org (2007)

- Edinburgh Evening News (2006)

- Chortle (2006)

- Fest (2006 & 2007)

- Scotsman (2006 & 2007)

- The Independent (2007)

- Fresh Air (2007)

- One 4 Review (2006)

______________________________________

Here are the reviews from the Aeneas Faversham Returns show at the Edinburgh Festival 2007

British Theatre Guide, 11th August, Reviewer: Rachel Lynn Brody

I really don’t know where to start with this review. This show was funny. I know that’s something one always hopes to hear when hearing about sketch comedy, but it’s so true in this case that it bears repeating: Aeneas Faversham Returns was so funny I was glad I wasn’t wearing eyeliner when I went to see it, because by the end of these delightful 55 minutes it would have been smeared all over my face from tears of laughter.

From the word go, the Penny Dreadfuls have put together a new series of Victorian-era sketches that play on our expectations of the era to bring genre comedy to a whole new level.

Without detracting from the surprises the Penny Dreadfuls have cooked up, it’s tough to say much about the individual sketches. Highlights include sketches which use words such as: Susan, Creep, Invisible, Blood-spatter, and Blood-spatter. That’s about as much as I dare say for fear of detracting from your enjoyment of the show.

Aeneas Faversham Returns is already selling out regularly. Book your ticket and go, before you miss your chance. They are one of the best value-for-money experiences on the Fringe and if you’re a clever person who likes clever humour, you will kick yourself for missing them.

Edinburgh Festival Magazine, 7th August, Reviewer: Lizzie Forbes

Back after a successful run last year and a smattering of TV and radio appearances, the new show from the Penny Dreadfuls will surely not disappoint the fans that they have worked hard to cultivate. It would have been easy for the group to rest on the plaudits of last year, and return with the same show, but they’ve taken the harder road and present all-new material for this year’s festival.

The result is a show of charming whimsy and knock-about humour undercut with a vein of darkly surreal irony, perfectly demonstrated in sketches involving the sudden appearance of a racist fairy godmother and the final, magical journey of one man and his imaginary Spaniard.

The Victorian theme adds a spice of novelty to the standard sketch-show format, although the viewer never feels left behind in scenes about the Crimean War, Turkish spies or the rituals of the Magic Circle. The troupe’s skill is revealed in their equal willingness to hit the audience with immediate gags or to wait for the laugh, taking their time to set the scene and get the most out of the very well developed situations they present.

The show is only slightly hampered by an unfortunate venue and the lack of raking on the front rows means that some of the action at floor-level is lost, but the superb voice acting by all four performers more than compensates for this mild annoyance.

Unpredicable, intelligent and laugh out loud funny, Aeneas Faversham Returns is one of the real gems of the festival.

Three Weeks, 7th August, Reviewer: pc

Arguably the most stylish show on the Fringe, “Aeneas Faversham Returns” provides inspired comedy to rival even the high-profile names around today. Set entirely in the Victorian era, this show cannot fail to impress - be that by the script, the charismatic performances, or surely in the case of anyone who has a funny bone, both. The range of sketches demonstrates unrivalled imagination, spanning from the surreally clever to the quite simply hilarious. Every character provides cause for laughter, and the lack of props is testament to the chameleon-like abilities of the four actors. Impeccable comic timing ensures that no gag goes astray, and every facial expression adds delight to a cleverly scripted and focussed show. Simply unmissable.

Fringe Review, 4th August, Paul Levy

Welcome to the world of Aeneas Faversham, The Penny Dreadful’s James Bond-like Victorian creation; an opportunity for a fine sketch show that had us in fits of laughter.

The Penny Dreadfuls, back in Edinburgh after success last year, comprise Jamie Anderson, Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck: four talented, versatile and consistently funny performers who took to the Belly Button stage in their sketch comedy show “Aeneas Faversham Returns”. I don’t want to tell you a thing about any of the sketches for fear of spoiling the many surprises in this laugh-every-few-seconds tour-de-farce.

From the fabulous opening death scene (whoops) to the side-splitting, Oscar-worthy take on “The Invisible Man” (whoops, there I go again), this is character comedy at its finest, with no small amount of physical knockabout thrown in for good measure. It’s sharply written, the commitment of the performers is huge and there’s an often hard-to-find combination of strong material and excellent delivery. This is a talented troupe. The writing is eloquent, it doesn’t fall into obscure surrealism, it’s strongly acted comedy theatre, full of direct, accessible and top-notch sketch-punchline humour.

Theatrically, it’s a masterclass from a fairly young cast, who were clearly enjoying themselves as much as we were in the audience. We’re taken into shadowy nineteenth century streets, moody drawing rooms, and esoteric secret meeting places, as this funny four demonstrate brilliant timing, interplay and stage togetherness. To enjoy it, you’ll have to enter willingly into this world of 19th Century light and shadow. You’ll have to allow bearded men to play women. BY the end, we were happy to allow these chaps anything, as long as they remained on the stage.

The audience loved the show from start to finish. If I have one gripe (it is a regular one for me) it is this: not all of the punch lines were as punchy as the excellent sketches that preceded them. It can be hard to come up with punchy endings to pieces this good and several sketches ended on punch lines that… lacked punch. But that really is a minor gripe in a show I’d see again in order to catch some of the many physical and verbal one-liners I probably missed in a five star gem at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Here’s a round-up of all of the Penny Dreadfuls’ reviews for Aeneas Faversham during the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

For the full text of each review, click here or through to the original websites.

***** Edinburgh Evening News, Friday 25 August 2006, Martin Lennon

The Penny Dreadfuls team consistently and constantly had the audience in hysterics. … You’ll be in debt to the Victorians for the rest of your life, if you actually get in to see it.

***** British Theatre Guide, August 2006, Rachel Lynn Brody

Aeneas Faversham is one of those magical Fringe treats that sneaks up on you from nowhere only to catapult it into your list of ‘top ten Fringe experiences ever.’ …In fact, my only complaint about Aneas Faversham is that it ends.

***** Broadway Baby, August 2006

[C]onstantly surprising and consequently consistently very funny… [A]ll four display an unbelievable array of accents … and tremendous acting versatility.

***** Three Weeks, August 2006

Rarely is a sketch show laugh-out-loud funny in every single scene, but the Penny Dreadfuls are the definite exception to this widely established rule - with each scene more stupid and more comical than the last. I don’t think I could find a fault in anything that they did.

***** Chortle, August 2006, John Fleming

This is a wonderful scripted and strongly acted selection of cod Victorian melodramatic snatches … They haven’t missed a trick in this enchanting portrait of bad children’s entertainers, vampire hunting, ‘barren’ wives and various evocative slices of Victoriana. …They are frighteningly professional, and streets ahead of any competitors.

**** The Scotsman, Tuesday 22nd August 2006, Roger Cox

[A]n absolute winner of a show here, and what’s more they are all strong enough performers to make their material sparkle. … Given the state of radio comedy these days - and I’m thinking of Radio 4 in particular here - somebody somewhere should get these guys on the airwaves, pronto.

**** The Skinny, Tuesday 15th August 2006, Michael Duffy

The absurd logic of the Victorian psyche is superbly sourced in this bright sketch show by the players of The Penny Dreadfuls. … seldom does it not land on the pyre of clever entertainment.

**** One4Review.com, August 2006

These dapper, waist-coated dandy’s perform a variety of glimpses into Victoriana [with] characters so wide ranging it would be difficult to catagorise them. … Well written and beautifully performed.

The Stage, Wednesday 9th August 2006, William McEvoy

Bathos is one of their best tactics, pricking Victorian bombast with a cleverly timed 21st century rejoinder. Some witty parodies of physical theatre add an extra layer to their consistently inventive and off the wall-skits. [A] highly amusing show.