Alec and Mary McPher­son run a lit­tle cafe in scenic New Zealand called House of Mince. Mary is a lit­tle tired of the monot­o­ny of their life but she’s hap­py enough. Then a man known as Don­key Boy vis­its Lon­don-based crime lord Vic Snow, and Alec and Mary’s lives won’t be the same.

Writ­ten by Edward Camp­bell, who plays Alec, and direct­ed by Geral­dine Bro­phy, this is an enter­tain­ing show. Camp­bell is part­nered by Julie Edwards as Mary McPher­son. Camp­bell uses his phys­i­cal­i­ty and vocal skills to embody the many facets of his char­ac­ter while Edwards is enjoy­ably prag­mat­ic. (Hat tip to Cos­tume design­er Han­na McKen­zie Doorne­bosch for Mary’s cos­tumes in par­tic­u­lar.)  Hamish Boyle plays Don­key Boy as a cocky oppor­tunist with an almost glee­ful dis­re­gard for oth­er peo­ple. Phil Grieve is Vic Snow. He spends most of his time sit­ting still but it’s pos­si­ble to feel the waves of men­ace rolling off him when it’s need­ed. Scott Ran­som is Pom. He has a good sense of the char­ac­ter with shifts in mood that feel gen­uine. Stage man­ag­er Bri­an Hot­ter has a quick turn on stage for a small but cru­cial role.

Brophy’s direc­tion ensures that the pace is kept up as the sto­ry bounces from scene to scene.  The set by Ross Joblin and light­ing by Tony Black clev­er­ly sup­port the action while sound by Geof­frey Hern rounds out the pic­ture.

For all your crime sto­ry needs.