Review: Friendsical - the one where Friends is parodied

Friendsical, the musical parody which cherry picks the best bits of the Iconic show’s 10 seasons, is The One Where The Audience Gets To Chuckle For two Hours, on the evidence of last night’s show at Peterborough New Theatre.

It is told, with a great deal of song and dance, from Ross’ perspective, covering his on-off, will-they-won’t-they relationship with Rachel from episode one, when she turns up in a wedding dress, through to the 236th and final episode.

Oh and it very cleverly brings in every other memorable storyline inbetween - though, as the audience is often reminded not necessarily in the order they happened. Just blame Ross’ script.

It is more giggle inducing than fall out of your chair hilarious, but it is great fun spotting the references to some of the unforgettable comedy moments in the lives of the couple and their best friends Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Monica in their New York apartments and, of course, in the coffee shop.

And there are so many.

I did like the Ross/Rachel duet “Over Me? When Were You Under Me?” and “Richard’s Moustache” but the pick of the musical numbers was definitely the Secrets song in act two which explained so much.

This is a hoot for Friends fans who want to relive the comic antics of their favourite twentysomethings.

The cast do a great job picking out the mannerisms and peculiarities of the characters and the script doesn’t shy away from poking fun at them for fun. But if you have never seen the original show you might be left scratching your head - or inspired to grab a boxset.

You can see Friendsical at New Theatre until Saturday.