Last night I went to see Spitting Image : Idiots Assemble at the Phoenix Theatre in London's glitzy West End.
Based on the popular topical satire TV show it was… meh. Ok, it was fine. I laughed a bit. I smiled a lot. I groaned even more.
The puppetry was excellent though. The models were spot on. The songs and dancing all very clever.
It's just the script was a little lame, a little dated. Inevitably I suppose as it had to have been written and rehearsed many months ago.
For me topical satire has to be topical. Whereas a show written a while ago that focuses on say the events of Summer 2022 (Boris, Truss, Prince Andrew, the Queen passing, the upcoming coronation etc.) is inherently a little dated.
A bit like watching reruns of Have I Got News For You it loses its impact. So, jokes about Prince Harry's book Spare and he and Megan moving to America just seemed all very 2022.
That said, pitching Suella Braverman as a ghoulish Regan from The Exorcist was hilarious. And when Sir Ian McKellen delivered a tentative, considered and detailed description of Sunak and Johnson followed by saying "So in short, they’re both c*nts!" genuinely got a laugh and round of applause.
The show closes soon. Maybe go if you can get a cheap ticket. Which you probably can. The auditorium was half
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.