All Our Friends Are Dead (Re:Play – Salford)

Surreal, fun and frankly pretty ridiculous, Kate Norris and Sinead Parker‘s All Our Friends Are Dead is just over an hour of off-the-wall humour.

The sketches range from the hilarious opening "Everybody wants to be a twat", a piss take of hipsters sung by the duo, to the very weird story of two teenage gothic sisters locked in a tower after the death of their parents and forced to survive on breast milk with only a pantomime horse for company.

They have claimed both League of Gentlemen and Nighty Night as influences, and that surrealism certainly comes through in some of the sketches (see the above breast milk sketch). However, the strongest material is that which plays on their relationship. They have this way of looking like they are just messing around that only very good performers and very good friends can pull off successfully.

The musical numbers are clear highlights as well. Accompanied by a talented trio of musicians (who are often used for comic effect), Norris and Parker sing a series of spoof Disney songs and medley of versions of Craig David and Destiny’s Child as the Tyldesley Widows, the North West’s premier choir made up entirely of widows.

Like any sketch show, some of the material falls a little flat, but all of it is perfectly produced and very clever. All Our Friends Are Dead is a unique show well worth seeing.

All Our Friends Are Dead is at the Lowry until 1 February.

– Joanna Ing