PARENTS of children of all ages will be familiar with the Horrible Histories books by Terry Deary which pride themselves on telling the nasty bits that are airbrushed out of school history lessons.
Especially The Terrible Tudors which was the very first (along with the Awful Egyptians) published back in 1993.
Only the current generation have had the pleasure of seeing them come to life on stage, care of the Birmingham Stage Company who have
already established a format, first seen in the Awful Egyptians and Rotten Romans last year.
Three vagabond troubadours (the suave Charles Davies, dimwit Gary Wilson and knockabout Haz Webb) pick out the gory bits of the era while a fourth (prim teacher Jemma Hines) vainly tries to preserve the status quo. They rattle us through from the emergence of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth I who was anything but Good Queen Bess, naturally milking Henry VIII and his wives on the way. It's all pantomime stuff with songs, daft puns and a bit of audience interaction.
The second half is enlivened by the introduction of Bogglevision in which we all don 3D glasses and watch a witch dunked underwater, the bloodsplattering beheading of Mary Queen of Scots and are thrust into the battle of the Armada, instinctively ducking the cannonballs and debris flying at your head.
Parents content ourselves that there's some educational value in all this, although it's undoubtedly the entertainment value which prompts a small voice at the end asking when we can see The Vile Victorians which plays alternate performances throughout the week.
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