“Everyone wants their loved one to look like a movie star nowadays,” grumbles Mick in Looking Deadly, a black comedy about competitive undertakers. Written by Niamh McGrath and Keith Singleton, who perform all the roles, it’s set in small-town Ireland, with Lynch’s funeral parlour losing business to nasty newcomer Cost Less Coffins. Will ruthless Mick’s cheap cardboard boxes triumph over caring Jane Lynch’s traditional solid-oak caskets with swans-down lining? The final showdown comes when the local GP dies, and there’s an unseemly scrap over his obsequies. This Fishamble Show in a Bag production directed by Amy Conroy is like watching a manic TV sitcom, with umpteen characters being acted out by just two people, and a swivelling coffin as the only prop.

Source: The Times February 11, 2018 00:02 UTC