Big Bad Mouse

The action takes place in the sleepy factory office of the fictitious Chunkibix Ltd. The office is run by the domineering and pompous Mr Price-Hargreaves, whose assistant, the shy and downtrodden Mr Bloome, is under his thumb and generally treated badly.

This continues until a flasher and stalker chases a young woman across Wandsworth Common (changed to a prominent local park when the show toured); Bloome is accused of being the flasher by the victim and a police detective. Surprisingly (and distinctly dubiously by any standards of modern morality), the female workers in the office, to whom Bloome had previously been all but invisible, suddenly find him sexually interesting, and almost a hero figure.

Their flirtatious attentions have the effect of bolstering Bloome's ego; he quickly grows in confidence and stature, finally answering back to Price-Hargreaves, and even suggesting revolutionary improvements that greatly increase sales, thus drawing the attention of Chunkibix company owner, Lady Chesapeake.

So satisfying is Bloome's transformation and newly found confidence that when the young victim discovers she had made a mistake in identifying him incorrectly as her assailant, Bloome becomes increasingly desperate to keep her quiet.

Edwards and Sykes knew each other well through several previous collaborations, including just completing the film The Plank, and were instantly comfortable with the format. With a fluid mixture of clever dialogue, quick fire jokes, sight gags, witty repartee backwards and forwards with the audience and even slapstick routines the pair ripped the original script to shreds. The rest of the cast struggled manfully to keep the play on track and constantly suffered light heartedly at the hands of the two main stars.

Jimmy Edwards played Price-Hargreaves in his trademark blustery harumphing way, that was easily recognised from his role as the headmaster in Whack-O!. Sykes played Bloome, the eponymous mouse of the show's title. Throughout the show the one ability that marked the boss's dominance in the office was his practised skill in picking up his phone handset by chopping with his hand, causing the handset to leap off the cradle into his waiting hand. Bloome, trying to emulate this, would always fail with the trick, either hurting his hand or sending the handset spinning into a waste paper basket. Only when he has gained confidence after being accused does he succeed, grinning widely at the audience.

At one point, during what is supposed to be a serious solo scene by Sykes, Edwards could be seen by the audience in his shirtsleeves and braces relaxing in the wings on an armchair. He is smoking a cigarette, flicking over pages of the play's script and making occasional wry faces at Sykes's performance, while Sykes feigns puzzlement at the audience's laughter. During the mid-play interval the cast joined the audience in the bar, remaining in character and performing several hilarious set piece conversations in between chatting with theatre goers.

The office secretary, Miss Spencer, who works for both men, starts the play as a shy drab and dowdily dressed spinster, but when Bloome gains his undeserved reputation and she herself is smitten by him, she also starts to blossom seemingly unnoticed. In the classic Sykes-Edwards production, the young actress playing the part endured endless ad-libs and delays in the action and still resolutely hit her cues and scripted lines. She became the stable point of reference around which the anarchic comics wove their magic. In the final act, having confessed her love for Bloome while wearing a drab ankle-length dress with a high lace collar, she next appears in a sexy red leather mini-skirt and boots, much to the delight of the audience who have appreciated her professional contribution to the performance.