For the very first time, your favourite songs and actors from the BAFTA Award-winning CBBC TV series will be appearing live (and dead!) on stage in a very special production!
When William Shakespeare is asked to create the greatest show on earth, he’s no idea how much trouble he’ll get from monstrous monarchs like King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria! Things hot up when Death appears – and now Boudica and Cleopatra want to take over! Can things get any worse? Of course they can!
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| The company. Photo by Matt Crockett |
Don’t miss this unique chance to see the amazing TV actors singing the sensational TV songs, including Stupid Deaths, Charles II, Dick Turpin, the Monarchs Song and many more! Featuring a live band, led by the Horrible Histories song master Richie Webb, this is one show you won’t want to miss! Bring your singing voices for a truly Horrible show!
We sat down with Neal Foster (founder of the Birmingham Stage Company) and actor Richard David-Caine to learn more about the show.
Mark: Can you begin by telling me a little bit about the show, please?
Richard: Age before beauty.
Neal: Thank you so much, I appreciate that! I'm Neal and I run the Birmingham Stage Company. We've been producing Horrible Histories for 20 years. 2 years ago for the first time ever we worked with Lion Television to produce the 'Orrible Opera Prom for the BBC at the Royal Albert Hall. We had such a good time together and it worked so well and we thought we must do this again. So here we are in 2026 with this brand new production. Completely new, written by the TV writers Ben Ward and Claire Wetton. I'm very fortunate to be doing this alongside such great actors, including Richard.
Richard: I am playing a lesser-known person, William Shakespeare, in this show. It's fun to inhabit because we all know his works but we don't know him as a person, so I've made him an attention-seeking narcissist meets someone who about to have a breakdown at any point. As he says in the show, "I'm quite extra". He's the tent pole that keeps the circus tent up. There's a lot of madness that happens around me and I'm just trying to keep the show from falling apart.
Mark: You've both had long connections with Horrible Histories, either on stage or on TV but for you both, what were your first encounters with the stories?
Richard: I certainly used to read it as a child. I feel like most children have. It's just always been there. I can't remember a time when I wasn't surrounded by books and their drawings. As I grew up, it became part of my sense of humour. It only seemed inevitable as an actor who loves comedy and performing to family audiences. This was destined to happen, and I'm very proud to be part of such an iconic British brand that has changed so many lives, entertaining and educating people. It's quite remarkable that a brand can do that, it can inspire, educate and both heartily through jokes about poo.
Neal: Because of my great age, I missed all that so I only found out about it through my education manager, Ellen Mills, who said, "what about Horrible Histories?" I hadn't heard of it, so she said she'd buy me a book so I could have a read. I read it and loved them as Richard described them. Through the fabulous use of Google, I managed to track down Terry Deary's phone number and rang him up and asked him if he'd like us to adapt his books onto the stage and he was over the moon about it. 21 years later here are still producing the stories, not just in this country but Worldwide. It's so well-loved by all English-speaking people across the world.
Mark: How is it for you both getting to combine both the TV and stage worlds in this show?
Richard: It's the same DNA, it's just having a different climate to unleash it. You have this incredible vehicle, the show, and you can perform it live to an audience each day. The TV experience is much different; it's quite a lonely experience. You are performing to a camera and a few people in a studio who are used to our shenanigans. To unleash it to our fans is special. There is an electricity to it. There are still mistakes that happen but we can lean into that anichary. So much of the show has an improvised feel to it, even if it is scripted. We've been given a lot of room to play and be silly. We have the opportunity to go bigger and badder and get an immediate reaction from the audience.
Neal: One of the lovely things to watch is a particular scene where it's really just the 4 TV actors working together. There's a special vibe in that scene. 4 people who know each other so well and know what they are doing. It is the first time the 4 have done this on stage in front of an audience. This arena is the one I'm used and I adore it. Partly because it's quite dangerous as well. This is a big cast, there are 8 actors and we are all doing a lot of songs. I do 9 songs across the 2 hours, so there is a lot more to do than I normally get involved with! It grows and evolves. Each audience dictates the mood and how well it's going that night. You can really feel the difference in each joke and scene. Audiences don't really know how much their engagement positively or negatively can impact what is happening on stage. It's a conversation between the people on stage and the people watching. The more engaged they are, the more exciting and the better it is. We rise to each other. That's the beauty of live theatre. Every single performance is unique to that audience because the audience dictates what performance they are going to see.
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| Photo by Matt Crockett. |
Mark: The concert features the music of Richie Webb, who is also on stage as Musical Director. How have you combined that to make it more than just a concert?
Neal: Ben and Claire wrote it and have done a fantastic job. Shakespeare is asked by Queen Elizabeth to put on this show, and because everything quickly goes so wrong, he is in a desperate situation and calling for all these people to help him. As it happens, each person who is called on to the stage has their own song that they are going to sing. Some of it helps, and some doesn't. Until it combines until we are all on stage singing some of the classic Horrible Histories songs together. It all seems so seamless and natural. Characters are so well drawn. It flows so beautifully. Richie has written the most fantastic songs that work so well in front of a live audience. Every song is a banger and the cheers at the end when we're doing our last three numbers, I think we could do another 3 without any problems. They just want more and more of it.
Richard: What Neal said! We couldn't do another 3 because I'm too exhausted at that point! 16 songs are enough!
Mark: How do you reflect on your own legacies with Horrible Histories?
Neal: I feel very pleased. I know when we did the Prom. I've known Terry Deary for over 22 years now and he came to see me afterwards and he cried, which I'd never seen before. He was so emotional, this tough Northern man. It was the fulfilment of his dreams. It's great to know that what you've done means a lot to the people who are involved with it. We work with the publishers, Scholastic, and they are always so delighted. They keep us wanting us to do more. We are all over the place with the shows and trying to find new audiences across the World. If there is any legacy, there are probably people studying history or taking drama or music more seriously because of their experience of coming to the stage shows.
Our legacy is about what effect we might have had on those amazing children we sometimes meet after the show. We had this amazing girl, Ruby, who came back to see us in Darlington. The effect on her was very visible. She was so excited by the whole experience and that moment will be so important in what I hope is a long life. Seeing that reaction makes it so special.
Richard: I agree. From my perspective, there is a lot of history to learn from and be inspired by, but as an actor, it is always to entertain. So talking about a legacy, just the idea that we've made some families and children's days. I don't think there's anything more I could ask for from my life. What an honour and privilege to do that. The way that I give back is by relishing the opportunity and bringing a bit more joy into the world that is increasingly unstable.
Mark: If you could travel back to any time in history. Where would you wish to travel to?
Neal: I always say the Georgians. I read a fantastic book on the Georgians called Pleasures and Pastimes and I've always felt they were the first modern people. We'd recognise ourselves, whereas in the Stuart and Tudor times we'd feel very alien. Having just listened to In Our Time this morning, I'd like to be a Roman, which I always wanted to be when I was young. Inevitably, as a Roman Emperor of some sort so that I'd have all the luxury and power. Being a Roman walking around the Roman Forum would be quite fun for an afternoon.
Richard: Whereas, with me, I've learnt so much about history that I don't want to be part of any of it! (we all break into laughter). These people are absolutely awful. The things that they have done to each other. I like to think of it as humanity growing up. So if I could go in a time machine, I'd like to go back to a time before humans and to the Dinosaurs.
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| Photo by Matt Crockett. |
Mark: To wrap up our conversation, simply what would you want someone to take away from seeing The Horrible Histories Concert?
Richard: I hope that they take away sodden underpants from laughing so much! That there is just urine everywhere. That's what I hope for the world!
Neal: I'm less scatological than that.
Richard: No, you're not!
Neal: I'm not!
When I talked about Ruby in the previous answer, that's what I want. There was a little boy called Albie, his mum sent me videos of him lip-syncing to Richie's song and wanted me as the director of the show to send a video giving him constructive notes about his performances. I met Albie after the show and we had a great chat. Afterwards him mum messaged me to say it was the best night of his life, so if we can be providing those kinds of nights for children and their families, then we're serving some little purpose in our little lives. That makes us feel good.
Horrible Histories Live (And Dead!) The Concert plays on tour, running until 18th April 2026. Full dates and venues below;
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