The Librarians is an unashamedly old fashioned farce that revels in stereotypes, easy punchlines and a frenetic energy that doesn’t entirely allow the cast to develop their characters or land the humour. Based in a threatened library, it has a slight plot – the arrival of an inspector – and an ensemble of simply drawn characters as well as a disappointingly naive dramaturgy.
The script covers plenty of material: office rivalries, the social move away from reading, the fusty conservatism of the staff, and the more radicalised right wing opinions of the older residents, but the splenetic pace can’t hide the lumbering plot. There are no real stakes in the action, and the first half of the show stumbles through a series of routines that sketch out the context for the library’s dilapidated condition.
Despite an attempt to poke fun at the rise of Reform-style politics and, for balance, a single jab at wokery, The Librarians looks backwards to a simpler time, evoking the blandness of 1970s sitcoms: the drama relies on the caricatured characters and half-developed situations – a missing safe, a conspiracy against the library, a baying mob of locals who expected to see Jeremy Clarkson. For all the movement on stage, the production feels unambitious and blunt.
The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!, Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 Aug (not 17, 24), 3.15pm