Brand new immersive theatre company - Yippee Theatre present the world premiere of Dead Hard, a drag Die Hard parody pantomime turning the iconic Christmas film on its head. The show will run at COLAB Tower, the first fully DDA-compliant immersive venue in London which will open this Winter. Audiences will become part of the action as they follow this high-energy immersive parody that transforms the beloved (and most definitely) Christmas film into a hilarious, camp spectacle!
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| Photo by Alex Walton |
The show has been created by Bertie Watkins, who has been the artistic director of COLAB Theatre for a decade. Bertie has written the show alongside Helena Raeburn and Lowell Bellfield. Audiences will follow fabulous drag queen Hands Grubber and the daring John McClean. Join John as they as they journey from being a gym bro to exploring their sexuality through a series of explosive encounters and comedic twists. All set against the backdrop of a Christmas party gone wrong, this production pushes the boundaries of traditional pantomime through a completely immersive environment.
We sat down with Bertie Watkins to learn more about the show.
What can you tell me about Dead Hard?
It’s essentially a massive camp romp based on the (absolute and definite and uncontended!) Christmas movie which I’ve managed to make about being true and honest to yourself but more importantly the people around you. I feel like we’re all such cowards when it comes to difficult decisions, and I thought having a gym bro (McClean) come to terms with his sexuality would be a great way to explore that in a relevant (and joyous/comedic!) way. So even though it is an action packed panto, it's been filled with glitter instead of guns.
It’s essentially a massive camp romp based on the (absolute and definite and uncontended!) Christmas movie which I’ve managed to make about being true and honest to yourself but more importantly the people around you. I feel like we’re all such cowards when it comes to difficult decisions, and I thought having a gym bro (McClean) come to terms with his sexuality would be a great way to explore that in a relevant (and joyous/comedic!) way. So even though it is an action packed panto, it's been filled with glitter instead of guns.
Where did the inspiration for the show come from?
The Idea came about because I love Die Hard, I love Drag and I love Panto - and we got a building that looked like the Nakatomi Plaza and we were potentially not going to have it by the end of 2025 so I was like ‘it must be done!’. So, it’s been a bit of a rush to get it on but It’s been a lot of fun. We’re also opening the Gold Bar downstairs which is an immersive bar, so we’re excited for that too.
The Idea came about because I love Die Hard, I love Drag and I love Panto - and we got a building that looked like the Nakatomi Plaza and we were potentially not going to have it by the end of 2025 so I was like ‘it must be done!’. So, it’s been a bit of a rush to get it on but It’s been a lot of fun. We’re also opening the Gold Bar downstairs which is an immersive bar, so we’re excited for that too.
It was quite tricky as there’s so many gun fights! And I love a gun fight in films but I don’t think gun fights ever really translate to stage that well which was the main pain point, as quite a lot of story develops during the gun fights in the movie so then translating that to the stage was a challenge. We’ve basically had to cut out an hour of gun fights and make them dramatic or silly scenes which I think we’ve done quite well.
Then, ironically, we’ve moved away from the ending as it was quite dated, we made it about gym bro McClean coming to terms with his sexuality. And then Hands and Holly fall in love and get married… Because obviously the film is about long-term relationships and how to deal with them at the 10 year mark.
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| Bertie Watkins. Photo by Alex Walton |
So we’re calling it immersive-ish. The first half the audience are split in half and one audience heists the other audience. Then after that it’s relatively traditional, however we’re using action men with cameras and have lots of interactive bits throughout so we’re quite proud of it still being what we’d call immersive even though it’s a bit more traditional.
Taking place at London's first DDA-compliant venue, how have you approached making the show inclusive and immersive?
Yeah that’s something that we thought was important. What’s good is essentially you can do everything everyone can do whether you’re in a wheelchair or not. We’re not putting the wheelchairs at the back or anything either so I’m hoping it’ll make anyone who comes in a wheelchair not feel different from anyone else. Then the building itself is wonderfully accessible as it has automated doors etc which is great.
Where did your arts career begin?
So I started in theatre from a young age. My mum took me to loads of local theatre when I was younger which gave me the bug really early on. I then became a young producer at the BAC where I performed in Punchdrunks’ Masque of the Red Death as part of the BAC young company. I opened my eyes to what theatre could be and from then on I knew what I wanted to do. From there I literally just went round all the theatres in London and knocked on doors and it worked. I was let in the rehearsal rooms and taught by some incredible people because I think people just appreciated that I actually went into the space rather than emailed thinking I’d get a response. Then I set up COLAB in 2014 wanting to do a spy show and I have been running it for the last 10 years.
How do you reflect on your career up to now?
Wow Hehehe I want it to sound positive but right now (because we’re a week away from opening a whole new venue and bar and show and it’s 11pm after a 13hr day…) to summarise it in one word – tiring…
It’s a slog making immersive work. Not only do you make a venue, you make a 360 set and then we are an audience first company so we essentially have to make stories for every audience member that comes through the door. So, it’s so much harder than traditional theatre to make. It’s everything I like about immersive but my goodness is it tiring to make.
Then money wise, I’ve never taken investment as I just hate the idea of it (although, I’m never above it if someone came with a cheque book…) but it’s made it so hard trying to make things work on a budget constantly. It’s terrifying staring down the barrel of running out of money constantly and we’ve just managed to come through every time and grow which has just been luck and graft.
There are highlights though I promise. I think the thing I enjoy the most is seeing people coming together and having a shared experience. It’s something I get such a kick out from and all our shows do that. Ironically what keeps me going is seeing people in the bar after the show chatting having made friends that evening. I think in this world where we’re getting more and more sucked into our own protagonist culture of social media it’s something that’s drastically important.
So yeah, it’s a fun journey, I’ve had some mad experiences and some incredible fulfilling experiences alongside some massive regrets but all in all I wouldn’t change it for the world.
From being able to do the immersive Matrix one day… I really hope it happens. Other than that it’s people. Goodness knows why but for some reason we keep attracting some of the most wonderful people I think this industry has to offer. I’m always blown away at how lovely, hardworking and joy infused the people I work with are. They are a delight, and they inspire me every day. I hope they get out of me what I get out of them because I’d give them the world.
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| Photo by Alex Walton |
What do you hope an audience member takes away from seeing Dead Hard?
Laughter. It’s literally just joy in a show. I think panto can be a bit shit but this one is just an absolute joy to watch. The cast are incredible the production is incredible. It’s got a real down to earth attitude to it with just buckets of entertainment within. So it’s just the perfect thing to come see with your friends. Audiences can see it at the COLAB Tower from Tuesday 10th December 2024 – Sunday 12th January 2025
- www.colabtheatre.co.uk is where they can buy tickets!
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