CULTURE
STAGE
Not so great Britain The history of the UK – told with farts, wigs and laughter
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ased on the hit books by Terry Deary, Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain tells the story of 2,000 years of British history. Neal Foster (right) is the show’s production manager, and plays Queen Victoria and Guy Fawkes. It comes to Dubai in February. How much of Barmy Britain is entertainment, and how much is education? We always want to make our shows really entertaining, and for our audience to learn the facts by accident. I was taught by John Cleese that the best way to make someone understand something is to make them laugh, because you can only find something funny if you know what’s going on. How exactly have you guys managed to make history fun? Are there farts? [Laughs] Oh, our secret weapons are the marvelous sound effects created by our sound designer Nick Sagar and together we have created one of the longest farts in theatre history. We have
yet to win an award for this fart effect but I’m sure they’ll come soon enough. We also have fabulous songs, a lot of audience participation and as many jokes as we can squeeze into the hour-long show. What’s the storyline involving one of your characters Guy Fawkes? We meet Guy Fawkes on the famous television programme, Who Wants To Blow Up Parliament, where he has to answer three questions to win the chance to kill everyone inside and outside the building. The audience get involved in helping Guy choose the right answers and it’s a nail biting ending. What’s your favourite one-liner from the show? My favourite scene is about the murderers Burke and Hare who ran a hotel in Edinburgh and started killing their guests. They sold the dead bodies to a local surgeon so he could practice on them. It’s always fun playing a charming psychopath and they don’t get more deliciously dangerous than Burke and Hare.
What do you remember about your history lessons at school? I had a fabulous teacher of European history and a devastatingly boring teacher of British history. So it amazes me to think we’ve enjoyed so much success from Barmy Britain, when I found British history so boring at school. It’s astonishing just how much effect a good teacher can have on a pupil’s life. What have you learnt about British history from doing Barmy Britain? I’ve learnt that it’s impossible to say history is boring when you come face to face with some of the most surprising people ever to inhabit the country. When people say they find history is boring, what they mean is they find people boring, because history is the stories of the people who have populated Britain since the dawn of time. And there are an awful lot of fascinating people to meet.
February 12 to 14 a Theatre by QE2, Fri to Sun 1pm, Dhs120, Tel: (0)4 5268888. theatrebyqe2.com
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