World famous celebrities are thrown together as Tom Cruise is tasked by King Charles with saving Great Britain. Greta Thunberg duets with Stormzy as Putin and Xi watch on from their premium seats in the stalls. Have they just come out for a night on the town? Or will they wipe out all of civilisation? A show simultaneously inspired and appalled by real events.
Director of Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World and Rep Artistic Director, Sean Foley said; “To be premiering this theatrical extravaganza in Birmingham, the home of the original ground-breaking television series of Spitting Image, is proving to be wonderful thrill.
“During previews the audience reactions have been wonderful - huge laughs and a genuine sense of raucous delight in the show… the chance to gleefully be part of pointing out that our various Emperors have nothing on - in the world of politics, celebrity, and in our biggest soap opera of them all, the Royal family - is an infectious, crazy ride that the show takes people on every night.”
“It’s a who’s who of the not so good, the bad and the ugly’ commented Al Murray. ‘I know Marvel like to say it, but our show is the greatest cross-over event of all time. Where else could you get Michael Gove, Taylor Swift, Tom Cruise, Sir Ian McKellen, Alison Hammond, Idris Elba, Daniel Craig, Harry Styles, Meghan Markle and Paddington Bear on a single stage?”
Matt Forde added: “We are living through an insane, abnormal, infuriating period, so the timing of this show couldn't be better. It's vital that we see our leaders lampooned with cutting satire and yes, whacked over the head with a big stick.”
The BAFTA and Emmy award-winning satirical Spitting Image television series originally ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996, and was watched by over 15 million viewers. It recently made a popular return to TV on BritBox, where across official social media channels, Spitting Image content has been hugely popular with over 200 million views globally, three number 1 trending videos on YouTube and achieved critical praise across the political divide. Three one-off specials for ITV have also seen huge success on terrestrial television: with a 4.4 million audience achieving ITV’s highest Saturday night ratings at that time in four years.
The full creative team is: Director Sean Foley, writers Al Murray, Matt Forde and Sean Foley, Caricaturist Supremo Roger Law, Set Designer, Alice Power, Video Designer Nina Dunn for Pixellux, Sound Designer Paul Groothuis, Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell, Puppet Master Scott Brooker, Costume Designer Lotte Collet, Choreographer Lizzi Gee, Puppetry Consultant Laura Bacon, Song Arrangements and Producer Felix Hagan, Incidental Music Composer and Musical Director Alexander S Bermange, Incidental Music Arranger and Producer Jerome Van Den Berghe, Penis Costume Design Alice Power, Associate Director Nyasha Gudo, Technical Director for Pixellux Harrison Cooke, Associate Video Designer for Pixellux Libby Ward, Associate Sound Designer Simon King, , Puppetry Casting Director Mikey Brett, Production Manager John Rowland, Creators of Spitting Image Peter Fluck and Roger Law, Producer for Birmingham Rep Chloe Naldrett, General Manager Emma Brunjes and Executive Producers Richard Allen-Turner and Jon Thoday for Avalon.
Voice over artists are: Al Murray (The Royal Variety Performance, Al Murray’s Happy Hour, Why Does Everyone Hate the English? We Have Ways of Making You Talk), Debra Stephenson (The Impressions Show, Dead Ringers, Rich Hall’s Election Breakdown, Newzoids, Coronation Street and Bad Girls), Jess Robinson (Spitting Image, The Last Leg, Stars in Their Ears, and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Britain’s Got Talent, Jojo Lin (Spitting Image Puppeteer), Jason Forbes (The Tracy Ullman Show, The Mash Report and Horrible Histories: The Movie and Borg Mcenroe), Josh Berry (Josh Berry’s Fake News, NewsJack, Dead Ringers, The Tracey Ullman Show and The Michael McIntyre Show), Kathryn Drysdale (Bridgerton, Meghan Markle in The Windsors, Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, The Bubble, The Queen and I and Plebs), Lorna Laidlaw (Mrs Tembe in Doctors, Aggie in Coronation Street, Getting It Straight and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Birmingham Rep), Luke Kempner (Spitting Image, Steph’s Packed Lunch, The Last Leg, Stand-up Sketch Show and The Imitation Game) Matt Forde (Spitting Image, Unspun with Matt Forde, The Royal Variety Performance, Have I Got News for You, The Political Party podcast and British Scandal) Ronan Summers (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Krays: Code of Silence, Doctor Who and Episodes) and Shri Patel (Rishi Sunak in This England, Emmerdale and Pennyworth)
The puppeteers are: Will Palmer, Tom Quinn, Katie Bradley, Rayo Patel, Paula Brett, Jojo Lin, Kaidan Dawkins, Chand Martinez, Pena Liyambo, Faye Weerasinghe, Bertie Harris and Helen Parke.
Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World - Live on Stage is presented by Avalon and Birmingham Rep. It runs until Saturday 11 Mar 2023.
