Long Live Irreverence and Spitting Image!

“I never really mattered to Mummy.” 

King Charles in a new version of Bohemian Rhapsody

King Charles and Paddington Bear. (Photo: Mark Senior)

Welcome back Spitting Image, the iconic puppets with puppeteer human legs and voice over artists, but live on stage and making no apologies for any offence!  It could be said that the real life events among the Royals and prime ministers are satirical in themselves leaving no room for Spitting Image’s cruelly comical excess but in my opinion there is always room for laughter and fun.  What you don’t get onstage, which for me was a down side of the television programmes, is over repetition of the same joke, for instance the spit spraying Roy Hattersley.  It feels very fresh.

Meghan and Harry. (Photo: Mark Senior0

Instead you have a tiny puppet Tom Cruise, knee high to every other character.  And you have the most superb puppeteers and movement.  We see the late Queen in all her finery playing her Red Special acoustic guitar and finding her inner Brian May.  She is admired and celebrated, not ridiculed, and the music is orgasmic.   

The vague plot is King Charles’ mission to save the fabric of Britain by enlisting Mission Impossible’s Tom Cruise.  Ian McKellen, knighted thespian will introduce the proceedings and Paddington Bear, having mixed cocaine with his marmalade, is on hand for royal advice.  The threat to the monarchy with tunes from The Lion King is Boris Johnson who we know has long wanted to be World King.

The Tory Cabinet. (Photo: Mark Senior)

There are plenty of new characters, Greta (Tintin Eleonora Ernman – yes these really are her middle names!) Thunberg and Donald Trump whose voice is state of the art, and the Tory government, Rishi Sunak in his school blazer and Suella Braverman in a superb graveyard scene from Michael Jackson’s Thriller.   Braverman’s scenes recall The Exorcist movie.  Liz Truss’ appearance is as brief as a lettuce.  

For the Opposition, we have Keir Starmer tediously quoting corporate meeting protocols and Angela Rayner with her long red hair down to her knees and the impossibly short Nicola Sturgeon whose up to date arrest is included.  Roger Law, without Peter Fluck, is the Caricaturist Supremo and his puppets take no prisoners, apart from the police chasing Nicola Sturgeon.  Carrie Johnson rounds off the first act with the girls riding huge penises and balls in some kind of chariot display and regularly flashes her boobs.  Think carefully about taking the children with these overtly rising genitalia!  

Boris, Trump and the Liz Truss Lettuce. (Photo: Avalon)

The voice overs are wonderful and the characterisations really work.  I liked Rishi Sunak’s schoolboy persona although that is not a Wykehamist blazer as Winchester doesn’t have school uniform!  Boris’ hair is brilliantly comic reality to go with his unvaulted ambition.  The writers, Sean Foley, Al Murray and Matt Forde are going to have to work throughout the run to keep up with the news.  

Ru Paul, Tyson Fury and Stormzy make an appearance – I think there are about 106 characters in all.  Set and video design is strong. I loved the “Bohemian Rhapsody”  sequence with King Charles regretting not being his mother’s favourite son.   “We Will Rule You”  from the Royals is much more fun than the one at the Coliseum.  The music is good quality and Lizzie Gee’s choreography gives great physical jokes with the hard working human legs on the puppet top halves. 

This isn’t the show for the prudish but I loved it and would go again like a shot!  

Stormzy and Tom Cruise. (Photo: Mark Senior)

Production Notes

Idiots Assemble Spitting Image the Musical

Written by Sean Foley, Al Murray and Matt Forde

Directed by Sean Foley

Cast

Puppeteers:

Rianna Ash

Katie Bradley

Kaidan Dawkins

Bertie Harris

Pena Iiyambo

Jackie Lam

Bright Ong

Will Palmer

Rayo Patel

 Tom Quinn

Faye Weerasinghe

Voice Over Artists

Oliver Chris

Kathryn Drysdale

Jason Forbes

Matt Forde

Luke Kempner

Lorna Laidlaw

Jackie Lam

Al Murray

Shri Patel

Jess Robinson

Debra Stephenson

Ronan Summers

Swings

Anthony Antunes

Emily Essery

Richard Vorster

Creatives

Director: Sean Foley

Caricaturist Supremo: Roger Law

Composer: Alexander S Bermange

Lighting Designer: Tim Mitchell

Production Designer: Alice Power

Video Designer: Nina Dunn

Sound Designer: Richard Brooker

Choreographer: Lizzie Gee

Costume Designer: Lotte Collett

Musical Director: Alexander S Bermange

Musical Supervisor: Jerome van den Berghe

Puppet Master: Scott Brooker

Information

Running Time: Two hour 15 minutes including an interval

Booking to 26th August 2022 

Theatre:

Phoenix Theatre

Charing Cross Road

London WC2H 0JP

Box Office: 0333 009 6690

Website: spittingimagethemusical.com

Tube: Tottenham Court Road

Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge

at the Phoenix Theatre on 16th  June 2023