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The Decent Rogues are back! Returning from it’s debut last year at the Rondo Theatre in Bath, Dan Lashbrook & Rob Pratt’s musical has a new home at the Mission Theatre, before moving to the Bridewell theatre in London.

The Decent Rogues had its world premiere in Bath last Summer. A brand new musical, written entirely from scratch by Dan Lashbrook & Rob Pratt, the Decent Rogues is set in the village of Horston Barrow.  It tells the story of two friends, Percy & Bevan who on the face of it are pillars of their community but who have successfully hidden their double lives as gentleman crooks for the past 9 years.  Through perpetrating these crimes they’ve made an enemy of Blinker, who plots his revenge with disastrous consequences for Percy & Bevan who stand to lose everything.

I had the pleasure of reviewing The Decent Rogues at its premiere last July and quickly became a fan of the show, wowed by the strong performances, great songs and well-crafted story. I’m pleased to write that none of this has been lost; if anything the whole production has improved, with the cast and story much tighter.

Directed by Petra Schofield, the musical benefits from the introduction of a new character, the Rev Beauchamp who is played by Geoff White. A number of scenes now take place in the church and this plot device makes the whole production work better. Robin Fackrell has moved on from playing Bevan to take on the role of Percival and delivers a fine performance. Duncan Mitchell joins the cast in the other lead role of Bevan who he plays with aplomb. In fact it’s no exaggeration to state that there is not one weak performance. Jason LeMoir is suitably vengeful in his role as Blinker whilst Zoe Manifold has the most amazing singing voice which she brings to the role of Percy’s wife.

The Decent Rogues has plenty of comedy throughout with highlights provided by the three policeman (Nicholas Burgess, Richard Pugh & Richard Grinter) and the Grave Diggers (Jason Crook & Rich Newman). Pugh, in particular delivers a fine slapstick performance as Constable Moffatt.

The entire musical is packed with great songs. Songs such as We’ll get you’, ‘Villagers’ song’, ‘There’s been a murder’ and ‘Thee, I’ll never forget’, would not be out of place in a West End musical, they really are that good.

The Rogues play at the Mission Theatre until Saturday, in front of a full house for each performance! For those lucky enough to have tickets, you’re in for a treat!