The Horrible Histories franchise has become a profitable money-spinner ever since the first book in Terry Deary’s series was written in 1993.
From 2009 to 2014 it became a popular CBBC television series, and the stage adaptations have now been running for nearly twenty years.
Terrible Tudors is back in the West End for the third year running. Neal Foster (also writer/director) and Emma Swan are the performers who bring all the characters to life in a lively and “horrible” manner.
The history is shaky, the interplay fun, the production fast-moving. If you like your Tudors served with a sprinkling of silly songs and a bargeful of bottom jokes, this is your show.
It zips along from Richard III, killed on battle in 1485 and buried under what we now know as a car park in Leicester, to the coronation of James I in 1603.
We meet Henry Tudor (“another Henry!”) who became Henry VII and was exceptionally mean with money, before heading to the meaty main course of Henry VIII.
This Henry, we learn, was “a very fat man” and may have written Greensleeves because Anne Boleyn had a cold and no hanky. It’s that kind of show.
Meeting his six wives and learning their fates through a song (which seems redundant in the age of SIX), we do get snippets about divorce, desire, and death, but only in broad ways young audiences may understand.
The break from the Catholic Church is shown in football rivalry terms (“no Pope”), while the three Tudor children during this turbulent reign are represented by dolls who occasionally stare or speak for added comic effect.
Lady Jane Grey is briefly covered, after a bit on Edward VI’s whipping boy (because you can’t thrash a King, even if he is a little rotter) and said King’s untimely death.
Terrible Tudors is funny, but sometimes a bit obvious. There are panto-style elements, and the popular views of the Tudors which may, or may not be true.
There’s a fair bit of implied gore, from the justice meted out to a horse thief, to the messy execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, herself a descendant of Henry VIi.
We meet Francis Drake, who was seemingly an ancestor of the comedian Tommy Cooper – a reference for the grandparents, as he died in 1984.
It’s all very lively, but not quite educational. Now and again, the actors are supplemented with puppetry, which I thought worked really well, and there are a few gross-out moments that always entertain youngsters.
The audience didn’t always behave as anticipated. The joy of live theatre and the quick reactions of those who cater to 5-105 year olds. Foster and Swan are on stage throughout, making quick changes from a rack of clothes and wigs.
Terrible Tudors is very polished with even the chaos clearly choreographed. But we all laughed, sang along (with gestures), cheered and booed, and perhaps forgot anything we thought we knew about this most dysfunctional of Royal families.
With Terrible Thames also running this summer and Horrible Christmas (with Charles Dickens, Oliver Cromwell, King Henry VIII, and St Nicholas) heading this year to Alexandra Palace, this brand shows no sign of slowing down.
You can see Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors at the Apollo Theatre in the West End until 1 Sep with tickets here.
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