Barmy Britain Part Two, Horrible Histories, Garrick Theatre

Barmy Britain tour comes to London with this year’s instalment of their hit theatrical series that brings the guts and gore of history to those aged 6 to 106.

‘We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead!’ proclaims the website of Horrible Histories’ production of Barmy Britain. If you already know Horrible Histories, you’ll understand exactly why it’s a perfect fit for the stage. In the very unlikely case this national institution has mysteriously escaped your attention, Horrible Histories is the ubiquitous book series that has been phenomenally successful in bringing history to life with all the naughty bits left in.

This is Part Two of Barmy Britain, which tells the history of Britain through the ages via gory stories, outrageous laws and gruesome wars. Director Neal Foster said on BBC Radio ‘When people say they find history boring, what they’re actually saying is they find people boring.’ We promise this production will dispel any whispers of such a ridiculous idea that your kids (or you) may hold by covering Britain’s history with accuracy, effectiveness, and unrivalled engagingness. Not to mention its warmth, irresistible wry humour and squelching sound effects.

Praise for Part One is effusive, with The Scotsman saying ‘Foster and Fitzjohn should be in every school history class across the land. Or, given how little most of us know about history, maybe that should be in every living room.’ Guardian writer Maddy Costa goes so far as to say it ‘successfully revisits British history from a feminist perspective … for that alone, it wins my vote.’