History relives in double form on the stage of the Garrick through this new additional family show playing in the mornings until the end the holiday season. Guillermo Nazara shares his thoughts on this production starring the worst attitude queens ever, to let us know if the piece was actually a royal pain.
Oh, what a glorious morning! The sun is up in gloomy England. The pleasant scents of rotten food and deadly illness flood the streets. And freshly severed heads top the pikes over the bridges to locals and visitors’ delight. Truly, the world is your oyster here if you want to make a killing… literally. Yes, there’s hardly anything nice we can say about this era, let alone the people ruling it. They were… well, complicated. And bad-tempered! Well, maybe not as much as me when I try to make my way through a pack of self-unaware tourists (you know who you are…), but you get the idea.
Horrible Stories brings back the fun (or rather, spices it up) with a new addition to its repertoire. It may be called terrible. But it’s actually terrific – ven if you’re an adult (I presume, I’m still waiting to reach that state of mind…). Starring Neal Foster and Emma Swan as the mighty troubadours recalling over 100 years of crap (it was a smelly period…), this extremely fun family piece exceeds the standards of educational panto, by presenting us with a highly amusing and even better put together showcase of imagination, clever writing and sharp performances.
Going through the whole blood lineage (watch out for a few splatters, too), the production mixes all the elements of its genre with masterful understanding of its artform and a more than clear instinct for spectacle – resulting in a deeply engaged audience bursting into singing, a bit of dancing, occasional yelling… and recurring looks on the critic sitting next to me every time she laughed. Who knows? She may end up being given a part – after all, there’s so many deaths to portray in this show… But regardless of what happens (despite our prayers), one thing is for sure: if a show is able to make its audience even more bonkers than itself, maybe we’re standing before something that, if not special, is at least incredibly memorable.
Despite its minimal though still practical set design, the staging successfully manages to depict both period and scenes rather intricately – somewhat thanks to Jacqueline Trousdale’s lavishly detailed costumes, as well as Jason Taylor’s vastly transporting, illustrative lighting. In addition, the numerous and much varied theatrical resources put into this montage provide it with almost impeccable pacing – keeping the excitement, mood and interest almost as high as Cromwell’s desecrated skull. And all in all, proving that if there’s something the authors (and the cast, too) know about is how to keep things rolling (no pun intended).
Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived. Surely Henry knew how to get his life moving – others’, not so much, though… But fortunately his story has supplied us with the opportunity for an amazing family show packed with death, conspiracy, war, disease… They are Brits, okay? And anyway, if there’s something we can’t deny (at least, regarding last week’s press performance), is that the children where hooked till the very finale. The reason why? Well, the true answer may haunt me so I’d rather not ask… But whatever that it is, the truth is that they were slain. And no King Herod required! Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived. Most probably the latter for this show – and if so, definitely for a longer, longer run.
Terrible Tudors plays at London’s Garrick Theatre until 2 September. Tickets are available on the following link.