IDIOTS ASSEMBLE:
SPITTING IMAGETHE MUSICAL
CAST & VOICE-OVER ARTISTS
ANNOUNCED TODAY
The Phoenix Theatre
Wednesday 24 May – Saturday 26 August 2023
“The evening triumphs through technical slickness, loving attention to detail, a high gag-rate and character-count and a trenchant storyline… a barrel-load of offence-giving fun and a salty dash of rebellion.” ★★★★★
Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph
“A healthy disrespect for the Establishment… technically ingenious production… the smarts to crowbar in updated topical refernces” ★★★★
Mark Wareham, Mail on Sunday
As Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musicalwritten by a tour de force comedy team made up of Al Murray (The Pub Landlord) Matt Forde (The Political Party) and double Olivier award winner Sean Foley (The Upstart Crow, The Play What I Wrote) heads towards its West End Premiere at the Phoenix Theatre the full cast of voice-over artists and puppeteers and is released today (Wednesday 10 May 2023).
As well as co-writing the piece Al Murray and Matt Forde are part of the stellar line-up of voice-over artists. They are joined by: Oliver Chris (Green Wing, The IT Crowd, and Prince William in Charles III on Broadway and on film) Kathryn Drysdale (Bridgerton, The Windsors, Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, The Bubble, The Queen and I and Plebs), Jason Forbes (The Tracy Ullman Show, The Mash Report and Horrible Histories: The Movie and Borg Mcenroe), Luke Kempner (Spitting Image, Steph’s Packed Lunch, The Last Leg, Stand-up Sketch Show and The Imitation Game), Lorna Laidlaw (Doctors, Coronation Street, Getting It Straight and A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Jackie Lam (Strangers, All that Remains and Emma) Shri Patel (Rishi Sunak in This England, Emmerdale and Pennyworth), Jess Robinson (Spitting Image, The Last Leg, Stars in Their Ears, and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Britain’s Got Talent), Debra Stephenson (The Impressions Show, Dead Ringers, Rich Hall’s Election Breakdown, Newzoids, Coronation Street and Bad Girls)and Ronan Summers (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Krays: Code of Silence, Doctor Who and Episodes).
The talented ensemble who are be bringing the puppets to life on stage are: Antony Antunes, Rianna Ash, Katie Bradley, Emily Essery, Kaidan Dawkins, Bertie Harris, Pena Iiambo, Jackie Lam, Bright Ong, Will Palmer, Helen Parke, Rayo Patel, Tom Quinn, Richard Vorster and Faye Weerasinghe.
The critically acclaimed show, which was developed at Birmingham Rep, is directed by the Rep’s Artistic Director Sean Foley alongside a creative team spearheaded by the original Spitting Image co-creator, Roger Law.
Director and co-writer Sean Foley said’ ‘I am thrilled that my first ever new production for The Rep as Artistic Director is transferring to the West End. Spitting Image The Musical has been an amazing journey so far… From throwing away 3 entire scripts, to the constant re-writes and creating the new puppets and characters which reflect the crazy world of UK culture and politics, we have been delighted that our audiences so far have laughed as hard and as long as they have. Now, with our amazing cast of puppeteers and voice artists, (not to mention the incredible design, dancing, musical numbers, video, sound, and of course the amazing puppets themselves created by a team advised by our Spirit Guide, original co-creator of Spitting Image, Roger Law), we have been updating and reflecting on the most recent events possible… and can exclusively reveal what ‘really’ happened behind the scenes in the week leading up to the King’s Coronation.’
Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical will run from Wednesday 24 May to Saturday 26 August 2023. Tickets are on sale from https://www.thephoenixtheatre.co.uk/shows/idiots-assemble-spitting-image-the-musical.
Introduced by Master of Ceremonies Sir Ian McKellen,the musical features a stellar line-up of over 100 puppets of the great and the not so good. Tom Cruise is tasked by His Majesty The King to create the UK’s very own ‘Magnificent Seven’ of celebrity misfits – Tom Cruise, Greta Thunberg, Meghan Markle, Tyson Fury, RuPaul, Angela Rayner and Idris Elba – to save the nation from a cabal of dark forces seeking to destroy it – that’s all the usual suspects. And James Corden. They are joined by: Ant & Dec, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Keir Starmer, Stormzy, Vladimir Putin, The Tory Party Cabinet and many many many many many more.
The full creative team is: Writers Al Murray, Matt Forde and Sean Foley, director Sean Foley, Caricaturist Supremo Roger Law, Production Designer, Alice Power, Video Designer Nina Dunn for Pixel Lux, Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell, Sound Designer Richard Brooker, Puppet Master Scott Brooker, Costume Designer Lotte Collett, Choreographer Lizzi Gee, Composer and Musical Director Alexander S. Bermange, Music Supervisor Jerome van den Berghe, Creators of Spitting Image Peter Fluck and Roger Law, General Manager Emma Brunjes for ebp, and Producers Richard Allen-Turner and Jon Thoday for Avalon.
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.
Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical is presented by Avalon, and originally produced at Birmingham Rep where it had a hugely successful run.