A half-term Halloween treat rolled into Brighton last week – the Horrible Histories cultural juggernaut arrived at the Theatre Royal with the Awful Egyptians show.
Waiting for the show to start, I had a little eavesdrop on my neighbours. I heard a woman discussing Halloween and telling her young charge she did not approve, on the grounds it was dark and inappropriate.
Perhaps she was new to the Horrible Histories brand of edutainment, where history is presented warts, buboes and all. It isn’t for the faint-hearted but its popularity has endured, beloved by generations of youngsters who have, for over three decades, delighted in its disgusting depictions of the past.
Horrible Histories’ first incarnation was as a children’s book back in 1993. Since then every conceivable drop has been milked from this cash cow. There are box sets, films, magazines, audio books, and, beginning with Mad Millennium in 1999, stage shows including Awful Egyptians which was first produced back in 2007.
The reliable premise hasn’t changed since its inception, cheeky schoolgirl Milly (Meghan Parry) gets locked overnight in a museum with her teacher, Mr Bland (Jack Ballard). The duo unwittingly release the spirit of Rameses the Great (Rob Cummings) and are taken on a journey, not only through time, but to the afterlife itself.
History is full of fantastic stories, the challenge for anyone producing historical content for children is presenting it in a way which keeps them interested and entertained. The Horrible Histories brand has this nailed and Awful Egytians is fully faithful to the format.
There are cringey jokes, topical references to influencers and video games, guts and gore, jump scares, silly songs and plenty of general daftness which, mostly, keeps the young audience engaged.
Occasionally, the pacing of the show feels a little uneven with a couple of the ‘educational’ sections in the first half struggling to retain the audiences attention.
The youngsters around me were getting increasingly distracted and noisy while waiting for a sensory spike to recapture their attention. Perhaps, this is more of a reflection on a modern audience used to short, sharp dopamine hits from online content than on the stage show itself?
But there is nothing like some good old-fashioned repulsion to grab attention, which Awful Egyptians had in abundance.
My thoughts went out to my Halloween-hating neighbour during the incisive section on mummification. A skull was sawn, a torso torn and guts were strewn across the stage. It was disgusting and the crowd went wild for it. I hope she pulled through.
The second half of the show was fast paced, helped, in no small part, by the use of 3D. How quaint, I thought, when the cardboard specs were handed out during the interval. What are they thinking? This crowd have grown-up with FaceTime and VR headsets – 3D doesn’t stand a chance.
Horrible Histories clearly know their audience better than I do because it went down like a Peach Oolong-flavoured bubble tea and a bag of NERDs. We screamed, flinched and yelped as rocks, mummies and even a King Cobra made a lunge for us.
Gimmicks aside, the talented, energetic cast did a marvellous job with a fast moving script, numerous costume changes and songs. Meghan Parry, in particular, bought charm to schoolgirl Milly, her stance, facial expressions and fidgeting together creating an exaggerated cartoon-like version of the pre-teen.
Rob Cummings was an imposing Rameses, larger than life with a booming voice and commanding presence and Jack Ballard clearly had great fun as the fussy teacher, desperately trying to do the right thing.
The hard working trio gamely engaged with the audience and smiled on through on the odd-occasion when audience participation requests fell a little flat.
I suspect it isn’t unheard of for this unruly production to be met with a similarly unruly crowd.
After all, this is a show which tells a version of history shied away from in textbooks, certainly not revelled in, as it is here. It is smelly, cruel, gross history and likely far more authentic than a serious, polite documentary.
It never shies away from the horrors of our past and the facts are always kept intact. There was a debunking of the Tutankhamun curse legend which, in our time of fake news and conspiracy, was particularly welcome.
Look beyond the slapstick, scares and slime, this show quietly takes its educational messaging seriously. Perhaps this is why it has endured. Beneath all the silliness it is built on something which outlasts the latest fads – children’s innate desire to learn, even if they might not realise that’s what really going on.
Find more arts and culture reviews at Brighton and Hove News – Follow @BHCitywhatson
and @bhcitynews on Instagram.
Covering everything from fringe theatre to major tours across Brighton and Hove – tag us if you’re going!
#WhatsOnBrighton #BrightonandHoveNews #Brighton #BrightonTheatre #BrightonArts
#BrightonHoveNews
