Blackadder III offers a laugh and a half

HILARITY: Blackadder III brings the laughs at Unity Theatre. Here Coleridge (Keith Cannell, far right) makes a point which Blackadder (Neil Coomber) doesn't seem too happy about. Taking in their exchange are, from left, Baldrick (Arran Dunn) Byron ( Sabian Coomber-Nickerson), Shelley (Michael Hall) and Samuel Johnson (Fraser Grout). Picture by Biddy Robb

If you want to feel smarter than you are and laugh easily at everything, Blackadder III is the play for you.

Last night was undoubtedly the least amount of effort I've put into watching a play, matched with some of the most laughs. That may be because the play started out as digestible and delicious television.

Blackadder III was written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton in 1987 and won awards left, right and centre. It does what TV does best. It rewards the viewer without asking anything in return — and so does the play.

Through some deep-seated superiority complex, I walked out of Unity Theatre feeling wittier and smarter after simply sitting back and laughing for two hours. I got the jokes and I've never seen an episode of Blackadder in my life.

In many ways it is the perfect play for the modern age. It's for punters who would like to watch Shakespeare if it made any sense.

Don't get me wrong. I studied Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer's Night Dream at university, and I agree that Shakespeare is a genius, funny, etc.

But on a Wednesday night if you require a university education to understand the plot, it's a tough sell. Blackadder is everything the opposite and more.

Without knowing context, characters or plot, I was laughing throughout the play and never felt lost.

The cast and crew deserve a round of applause for both the set and superb acting. Blackadder (Neil Coomber) had quite the task of rattling through two hours of semi-nonsensical dialogue and insults that no ordinary human would ever string together in a sentence.

The rest of the cast has it easy in comparison. But what they lack in lines they nail in delivery, occasionally causing a laugh to spring from your throat when you're least expecting it.

The leading trio on stage — Blackadder, Baldrick (Arran Dunn) and the Prince (Brent Forge) — had excellent pace and kept the whole play humming along.

There were a few hiccups with volume and actors tripped over their lines a little, but they picked them up quickly.

It was my first time at Unity Theatre and the little building positively charmed me. It felt like watching TV in very high definition with surround sound — there's even a live music accompaniment from Sarah and Colin Olsen.

Sit up the front and you'll be close enough to see the whites in the actors' eyes, a treat for any audience and a near-impossibility in a major city.

The set design by director and designer Dave Hall needs a mention: It's bloody grand. Coals are alight in the fireplace, bread dough ferments and hot black coffee comes out of the pot, delightful.

No doubt more hours went into the set, fabulous costumes, and rehearsals than anyone will realise after laughing and drinking, but the dedication was obvious and impressive. The play is on the longer side, running over two hours, but you can stretch your legs at intermission. It is made up of four episodes.

In sum, I sat with plenty of legroom, drank two glasses of wine and laughed a lot. Well worth an evening out.