Manners, Murder, and a Cringe-tastic Middle-Class Meltdown
- 39 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Unfriend By Steven Moffatt at the Criterion Theatre, Earlsdon, Coventry from 21 – 28 March 2026.
Review by Annette Kinsella.
The “stranger at the feast” is a well-worn literary device. From Shallow Grave and Single White Female, to the clinical yet deadly agents of domestic terrorism The Tiger Who Came to Tea and The Cat in the Hat, writers can't get enough of the unexpected guest who arrives to shake stuff up. The Unfriend at the Criterion Theatre takes that premise and sets the controls directly for the taupe, cowering heart of the British middle class.
Elsa - the velour-clad, jewel-bedecked American Black Widow - is essentially Inspector Goole with Louis Vuitton luggage. Bringing strong An Inspector Calls energy, she is an omnipotent force dispensing chaos and unvarnished truths in equal measures. But whereas J. B. Priestley delivered a social lecture, Steven Moffat's sitcom-style farce serves a masterclass in finely-tune cringe.
At its core is the crumbling garden wall of the British psyche: terminally middle-class Peter (Jon Elves) and Debbie (Cathryn Bowler) are so terrified of seeming rude they’d rather host a murderer than risk an awkward conversation. Elsa (Christine Evans), embracing an honesty and insight as brash as her dress sense, makes the perfect foil for their awkward social graces.
If the first half is psychological thriller arriving in a tracksuit and bling, the second half leans fully into end-of-the-pier, whoops-where-are-my-trousers style slapstick humour, with the cast treating us to a gleeful round of television comedy character bingo. Mark Heap-esque Dave Grove effortlessly turns up the Friday Night Dinner nightmare neighbour to 11, while Elves channels his inner Basil Fawlty to near cardiac failure. Meanwhile Alex and Rosie (Morgan Blundell-Smith and Martin Foley) play up to the sitcom-standard baffled teenagers straight from Butterflies. That's a full house!
Overall, this was a well-executed and finely-observed comedy of manners, the portrayal of social embarrassment so accurate that I wanted to crawl inside my programme.
It shows that even when plot devices are well-trodden, good writing and a talented cast can still bring a breath of fresh air to all too familiar tropes.
Ultimately The Unfriend warns us that while a mass murderer is a threat to your existence, a houseguest who won't leave is a threat to your sanity. And while Elsa undoubtedly is a formidable architect of destruction, I still maintain the Cat In The Hat is one of the most terrifying characters in literature. At least Elsa doesn't come with a Thing 1 and Thing 2 to help with the clean-up.
For tickets: https://criteriontheatre.co.uk/
Just for fun, our reviewer has put together a Guide to British Manners:
When people say: I don't want to cause you any inconvenience.
They actually mean: Please take a leave of absence from work and cancel any plans as I am going to assign you a task worthy of the Seven Labours of Hercules.
When they say: Right then, I’ll leave you to it.
They mean: I am retreating to silently unravel and to plot your imminent downfall.
When they say: No, no, stay as long as you like!
They mean: Leave by Tuesday or I will be forced to set fire to the house.
When they say: Think nothing of it, it couldn't matter less.
They mean: you have just made yourself a very powerful enemy, my friend.
When they say: That's an interesting tracksuit, Elsa.
They mean: you are a visual hazard and an aberration that could be seen from space and no way will I be seen in public with you.
General tips for success:
When faced with the prospect of a task you don't want to do, never keep it simple. Make up some elaborate excuse, ideally involving a medical emergency and/ or a faulty toilet.
If a guest dismantles your entire social structure, offer tea and biscuits. Do not engage further.
Above all: never unfriend someone in real life. This is the height of rudeness. Consider alternatives, like emigrating or immediately enlisting in the armed services, ideally for a kamikaze mission.
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