A fine celebration of
Britain’s great history
Horrible
Histories: Barmy Britain
Darlington
Civic Theatre
Until
Sunday 9th November 2014
21 years ago Terry Deary had his first Horrible Histories title published. 2014
sees Deary co-write a stage production with Neal Foster that features many
elements of what made both the books and the tv series popular. By
concentrating on the fun, the gory and the interesting, the Birmingham Stage
Company have another family friendly hit on their hands. On opening night the
audience, of all ages, had fun in a packed theatre.
The production begins with the arrival of Alison
Fitzjohn and Laura Dalgleish as traffic wardens to tell off Benedict Martin and
Gary Wilson for parking their cart on the stage. A challenge is quickly offered
to show that Britain
was more Barmy than Great.
Through catchy songs and funny sketches the history
of the country is presented: starting with the invaders and finishing with the
Great War. An effort is made to debunk some of the myths of legends such as
Dick Turpin and to explain why other events such as the Gunpowder Plot and WW1
started. Popular characters from the tv series such as Queen Victoria, Boudica,
Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth rub shoulders with the notorious Burke and Hare.
The audience are encouraged to sing along and get involved.
The show doesn’t overdo the gore or the fart jokes
as a number of popular television formats are plagiarised such as Location,
Location, Location; Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Only Way Is Essex. The
cast undertake regular costume changes but the action is never permitted to
stop.
The second half involves 3-D Bogglevision. This
feature is shameless in throwing images at the audience at regular intervals to
squeal at or duck from and this seemed to be highly appreciated by the younger
members of the audience. All four members of the cast continue to work hard and
the combination of special effects and live stage show work well together.
Barmy Britain is a
whistle-stop tour of a few of the highlights of our history which will appeal
to a wide range of age groups. The show
goes a long way to show that learning can be entertaining – and that must be a
good thing.
This
review was written by Stephen Oliver
for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com).
Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo
on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo
To book contact the Box
Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk
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