Interview: Jordan Li-Smith and Ayesha Patel on Rope Drop

Writer-performers on turning a Disneyland Paris trip into an expanded buddy comedy for The Other Palace

Rope Drop: The Unofficial Disney Parks Comedy follows writer-performers Jordan Li-Smith and Ayesha Patel through their “perfect day” at the Disney Parks, from rope drop to fireworks, with sketches, live music and a different pair of special guests joining them at each performance. The show began life as a theatrical cabaret at The Crazy Coqs and has since grown into a two-act autobiographical buddy comedy, now heading to The Other Palace Studio this September. Ahead of the run, Jordan and Ayesha answered a few questions for Red Bus Londinium.

Red Bus: Rope Drop started life at The Crazy Coqs and has now been expanded for The Other Palace Studio. What did you want more room to do this time round that the earlier version didn’t allow for?

Jordan Li-Smith: For starters, we’ve expanded the show! It’s now in two acts and has a couple of new songs too. But the biggest change has been redefining its form. At Crazy Coqs, I’d describe Rope Drop as a theatrical cabaret; at The Other Palace, it’s become a full-length autobiographical buddy comedy about two best friends attempting to have the perfect day in a Disney Park.

Ayesha Patel: And it’s far more interactive this time around. At Crazy Coqs, we were telling the audience about our Disney day. This time, we’re bringing the whole audience along for a day in the park with us.

Jordan Li-Smith: It’s much more of a big group trip now!

Red Bus: The show follows your “perfect day” at the Disney Parks. How much of that day is drawn from your own real trips, and how much is an invented ideal?

Ayesha Patel: The show is heavily inspired by a trip we took to Disneyland Paris a couple of years ago, which was really the impetus for writing Rope Drop, as well as our individual childhood memories of the parks. A lot of the little observations and behaviours in the show are very real!

Jordan Li-Smith: But we’ve definitely allowed ourselves to stretch the possibilities of what a “perfect” Disney day can involve. And, of course, if we simply watched two people have a completely perfect day where nothing went wrong, it probably wouldn’t make for the most dramatically satisfying evening!

Ayesha Patel: So it’s rooted in our real experiences, with a healthy dose of imagined reality.

Red Bus: Each performance features a different pair of special guests. How do you build a show that has to work whoever turns up that night, and does the shape of the evening change much depending on who’s on stage with you?

Jordan Li-Smith: One word: preparation!

Ayesha Patel: We’ve been incredibly lucky with our six guests, all of whom have some connection to Disney, whether they’ve worked in the parks, appeared in a Disney Theatrical production, or are simply genuine Disney fans themselves.

Jordan Li-Smith: We’ve built particular moments into the show where our guests come in and help us tell the story, but we’ve also tailored those moments around who they are and what they bring. So the narrative of Rope Drop remains the same, but the route we take through certain parts of it can be very different.

Ayesha Patel: And they’ve all brought their own personalities to the table, which has been so much fun.

Jordan Li-Smith: So we can promise that all three performances of Rope Drop will be unique and contain things you won’t see at either of the others.

Red Bus: You’ve described the show as a love letter to friendship as much as to Disney fandom. How do you keep the two threads balanced so it doesn’t tip entirely into one or the other?

Jordan Li-Smith: As writers, we don’t really see those as two separate strands that need to be balanced, because they’re inextricably linked. Our friendship was born from a shared love of Disney, and that shared love is what allowed our friendship to blossom.

Ayesha Patel: And it’s also introduced us to this whole community of like-minded people. So the show is about both things simultaneously because one feeds the other.

Jordan Li-Smith: What does need balancing is making the show gratifying for die-hard Disney Parks fans while still being completely accessible to someone who knows nothing about theme parks.

Ayesha Patel: The comedy is observational and often very self-deprecating. We’re certainly not asking the audience to take Disney fandom as seriously as we sometimes do!

Jordan Li-Smith: Whether you’re a theme park fan, a Disney fan or simply a comedy fan, there’s a way into the show.

Red Bus: What would you say to someone coming along who isn’t a big Disney parks person themselves, is there still a way in for them?

Ayesha Patel: Absolutely. At its heart, Rope Drop isn’t only about Disney. It’s about finding your inner child and holding onto them as you grow up. It’s about the importance of platonic love, and it’s an ode to friendship.

Jordan Li-Smith: More than anything, it’s for anyone who has a passion, hobby or obsession they sometimes feel embarrassed to share with other people. The show says: love what you love. You don’t have to be ashamed of the things that bring you joy.

Ayesha Patel: You absolutely don’t need to have stepped foot in a Disney Park to get something from Rope Drop.

Jordan Li-Smith: Although you may leave knowing considerably more about them than you did when you arrived…

Rope Drop: The Unofficial Disney Parks Comedy runs at The Other Palace Studio, 12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA, on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026.

Standard tickets are £30, with a limited number of £20 FastPass tickets available for each performance on a first-come, first-served basis.

Running time: 120 minutes including an interval.
Age guidance: 16+.

Special guests, performance by performance:

Saturday 5 September, 8pm: Lewis Brown Bear (Love Quirks, The Other Palace; Pretty Woman, UK Tour) and Charlotte Yorke (Disney’s YouTube channel Taking the Mickey)
Sunday 6 September, 1.30pm: Joaquin Pedro Valdes (RENT, Duke of York’s Theatre; The Frogs, Southwark Playhouse) and Melissa Cavanagh (The Voice, BBC; Sugarbye, Tobacco Factory Theatre)
Sunday 6 September, 6.30pm (press night): Henry Calvert (Gold Statue Energy, Sky TV; Phoenix Theatre’s Gala Fundraiser, The Phoenix Theatre) and Esme Bowdler (Heathers, UK Tour; Mamma Mia I Have a Dream, ITV)