It will take more than a pandemic to stop London’s gangsters…| Crooks 1926 Theatre Review

Pre post disclaimer: The reason this post has taken so long to see the light of day is purely because in times like these – filled with anxiety, confusion and more than a dash of chaos…my motivation for blogging decided to talk a walk out of my life for a bit. I expect you to do absolutely nothing with this information. I just wished to explain that and make one thing very clear: if a post is delayed going up on my blog, that is never a reflection on what I am writing about. 99.99% of the time, it is for personal reasons. It is never because I am not wanting to write. In this instance: I did not suddenly hate Crooks: 1926 and have nothing to say about it. In fact, I am the complete opposite and I am sure many people in my life wish I would talk about it a little less. Anyway. Enough digressing, it has already taken long enough for me to get this post up…let’s get to the point.

I started writing this post before London was in tier 3, and before the restrictions in the UK became even tighter. Now, obviously, Crooks: 1926 is no longer running. I was reluctant to post this yet until we know what the future of London and theatre has in store, but we don’t know when that will be, and I did still thoroughly enjoy the show, of course. So. Here we go.

I adore immersive theatre (wow, really Leyla? You never mention that), and as much as I have genuinely loved doing shows online and trying shows in a new medium…for me, they’re great fun, but nothing beats the feeling of live immersive theatre, in the flesh. I had the joyous experience of returning to the Colab Tavern recently to see Crooks: 1926 again, but this time, with the new covid safety measures in place. I did not see the show upon its first re-opening post covid, so it was beautiful to be back for the first time since March. Needless to say, covid did not ruin the experience for me. Far from it, in fact.

I have previously written a review about Crooks: 1926 for Dress Circle Antics, whereupon I gave the show a thoroughly well deserved 5 stars. Because of this, I will not be writing about the show in full again for the second time. If you wish to familiarise yourself with just how much I adored the show, you can find that review here. In this post I am going to be expressing how safe Colab Theatre Productions have made me feel at the theatre, combined with how they have continued to maintain the magic of immersive theatre and ensure the fun filled night of playing a gangster is far from lost, even in these times. Colab Theatre Productions still provided a highly entertaining evening, proving it’s going to take far more than a pandemic to stop them giving audiences a night to remember. Of course, I loved it. That’s putting it lightly.

If you don’t fancy reading my previous review on this show and know nothing about it, let me very briefly being you up to speed: an immersive theatre show where you can live out your best London gangster life in 1926. Think Peaky Blinders. But it’s not Peaky Blinders.

From the word go, it is very clear that Colab Theatre Productions have put safety at the forefront of the show. The safety of the cast, creatives and audiences has been really well thought through and I never for a second felt unsafe for the entirety of the show.

In true immersive theatre fashion, you meet the characters before you even step foot inside. We are pre-warned before the show even begins, there is this pesky spanish flu currently plaguing the nation in 1926, so extra precautions have had to be taken so that we can still get on with being gangsters, but be safe at the same time.

First up: Temperature checks. You simply cannot be too careful with the spanish flu spreading the way it is, so if your temperature is too high – it’s time to say bye. (Okay. I tried. I’ll leave the puns and rhyming to others).

Next up: Everyone must keep a mask on at all times when entering and roaming around the building. The only time you can take your mask off is when you’re seated with your bubble, in an allocated area, where you will spend large parts of the show, a minimum of 2m away from everyone else. But really, the mask wearing rule – this is a win! If you end up doing anything that is frowned upon for some reason, like swiftly pickpocketing people for the greater good…with more of your face hidden by a mask, you are harder to identify, and therefore can’t get in any trouble. What an added bonus as well as being safe! Plus you can coordinate your mask to what you’re wearing. Which is of course very important and the priority here.

You forgot your hand sanitiser at home? Fret not. The Elephant and Castle Mob druggist & pharmacists have got you covered. If there was a game in the show of ‘spot the sanitiser’, it would be a very easy game to win. You’re given sanitiser as you go in. You can see it on the bar. You can see it in every room. It’s enough to put a health care worker’s mind at rest to see sanitiser dotted around like Christmas decorations. This sanitiser is open and encouraged for audience member usage – obviously – but anything you are given? Anything you touch? The very air you breathe? Sanitised before and after, courtesy of the cast. Fans clearing the air in the show. Cleaning of the space every night after a show. I mean…how much more can they do?!

You may remember in Flicker, I wondered if you’d be allowed to given the freedom to explore the space, as you could prior to the restrictions. I wondered the same thing with Crooks. Previously, you could switch rooms, you could wander up to the bar and chat to the characters there, you could explore what’s in boxes, read any papers you come across…there was always something to see or do. With the new restrictions, this is somewhat restricted but not removed completely. Audience members are given tasks throughout the shows whereupon in your bubbles and with masks on, you can explore the tavern and see if you find anything of use. This is so well controlled so not everyone is up and about at once, meaning people are still socially distanced, but you don’t feel constrained in what you can and can’t do, and you still have a certain degree of freedom.

On the topic of freedom to explore the tavern…in the pre-covid Crooks experience (trying saying that 5 times faster!), there were three rooms you could spend chunks of time in. You could spend time with Wal McDonald, thinking of ways you could gently (or less than) persuade people to ensure your horse definitely comes out on top at the racetracks. You could spend time with Wag McDonald, planning heists with as much or little chaos as your heart wishes, using whatever means necessary to succeed. Or you could spend time with Alice Diamond, the fierce leader of the Forty Elephants all women gang, to use methods of persuasion to make sure all goes to plan, and making sure people are well aware of the consequences if they don’t help or if it all goes to pot.

These three rooms remain present in the current version of the show, and you can still spend time with each character. When I went, Alice Diamond was away on crucial business, however, the structure remained very much the same. The only difference is instead of choosing who you meet, you’re allocated a room and an area that will be your own seated bubble at the start of the show; then as the show progresses, it is the cast who rotate throughout the building. This means no matter where you are – you get to have a bit of fun and chaos with all 3 characters, so no one misses out! And just because you spend a majority of the time in one room, it again – doesn’t feel restricting. More often than not, as long as you have masks on and are sensible, you’re invited to stand up and make plans with other audience members, you can partake in some mini games that have been creatively and carefully planned for some audience members, and you can still make phone calls to try and get people to do what you say to help.

(Side note – there is absolutely such a thing as getting far too into your role as a gangster, and threatening someone a bit too much to help you, whereupon they will straight away hang up the phone. It is very sad and makes you reconsider being a gangster, but instead consider becoming a boxer. Not that this is from personal experience or anything….)

So, you may have all these safety measures in place, you may have some slight restrictions and the show may be altered in places…but what Colab Theatre Productions have perfectly done is find the middle ground between prioritising safety, but not at the consequence of making the show any less brilliant. You still feel immersed in the world, you still are at the forefront of all decisions and the show is still very much led by the audience, depending on what you decide to do.

Something I was wondering as to how they would work are the larger scenes, for which all audience members and most, if not all, cast members were present. That would lead to a fairly large number of people being in the main room where the show plays out, which sadly would not be possible with the current guidelines. I did wonder if these scenes would be cut altogether, but that would make a very short and rather uneventful show, would it not? Well, in true immersive theatre style, the scenes were not scrapped but merely adapted. The scenes still take place, and take place very safely! They just happen in the much larger room of the downstairs basement where it is far easier to socially distance, than upstairs. As these scenes are spread throughout the show, it just means every so often, audience members pop a mask on and everyone takes a trip downstairs and sits there instead – still in your bubbles! The change in atmosphere from the tavern upstairs to downstairs, I think adds to the atmosphere and heightens the feelings of tension and high emotions in certain scenes – especially at the end of the show (no spoilers, but if you know…you know). So this change is one I actually really like. There is one scene in particular where a fight breaks out between two characters, which has been changed a fair bit since the last time I saw the show. I won’t explain how for spoiler reasons…but I found it hugely entertaining. Again – if you know, you know.

(Side note 2.0 – fellow peaky blinders/1920’s nerds – keep your eyes and ears sharp in the show and you may hear the familiar name, and have Billy Kimber make an appearance! My heart was filled with joy when I encountered him!). Now…it’s time for me to get a bit emotional now. (I’m surprised I made it this far into the post, really).

So that is Crooks: 1926. Still as much the enthusiastic, high energy and fun filled 1920’s gangster show I knew and loved prior to covid. It truly was a joy more than I can write to return to the Tavern, to the show I loved. For a few hours I got to escape from this world and time, forgetting everything causing so much fear and anxiety…I got to immerse myself once again in a time and world I loved so much. As I said at the start of this post – I love and am so grateful for any and all theatre this year, and it’s been nice to get out of my comfort zone and do shows online…but immersive theatre live in person is where my anxiety is abandoned completely, and where true escapism lies for me. I’d really missed Crooks – I mean it’s an immersive theatre show set in 1926, where I get to play as a gangster…that’s right up my street, what more could I want? So this visit back filled me with so much love and happiness. Even more so to find that although it sounds like there has been a lot of changes…in reality, because a lot of the measures are stuff we see in daily life now anyway, it didn’t affect or change the show much at all. To me, it felt like very much the same fantastic show, with added content I didn’t get to experience last time. This is also probably why I was so emotional and on the brink of tears all night, to absolutely no ones surprise I am sure.

And there we have it. There may well be a spanish flu causing mayhem, but Colab Theatre Productions have taken that on the chin and persisted with a show anyway. They have made it starkly clear that it is going to take a lot more than a mere global pandemic to stop London’s Elephant and Castle mob going about their business. I am very grateful I got to see Crooks again when I did. It remains to be escapism and immersive theatre at its finest, and I sincerely hope that it won’t be another 9 months before I return. So, when Crooks re-opens, why not stick a flat cap on, pretend it’s 1926, and take yourself down to the Colab Tavern for a night of who only knows what?

Currently, Crooks: 1926 is set for re-opening on 15th January. If you want to book tickets, you can do that here: https://www.colabtheatre.co.uk/crooks-2 .