BARMY
BRITAIN
Horrible
Histories
at the
Civic
Theatre
21.10.2014
Who
you calling barmy ? Well, a historical ragbag of characters that
made this country great, from the Vikings to Queen Victoria. All of
them brought to life in a shamelessly silly couple of hours that also
managed to feed us some fascinating facts from our island's story.
It
all began with a pair of nothing-o-see-here jobsworth traffic wardens
[Alison Fitzjohn and Laura Dalgleish] who soon get roped in to join
Benedict Martin and Gary Wilson to romp energetically through the
footnotes to the history books, against an animated cartoon backdrop
[in glorious Bogglevision for Act II].
A
Valkyrie Boudicca, Vikings looking to relocate to Lindisfarne,
Muslims massacred at Acre, William [from the audience] cured of the
Black Death, the Groom of the Stool, a Whipping Boy, Henry VIII as a
petulant puppet, a TOWIE Dick Turpin, a Hip Hop Widow of Windsor, and
comedy Bones in their Pockets Irishmen Burke and Hare. Lots of Game
Shows – Guy Fawkes on “Who Wants to Blow Up Parliament?” - and
a few genuine surprises, like the Dale Dyke Dam Disaster, whose 150th
anniversary was commemorated this year.
Even
the causes of the Great War were given a knockabout outing, before a
properly respectful moment of remembrance, with a biplane strewing 3D
poppies over the stalls.
