Bard is target of Sheffield theatre company Blowfish's new comedy, The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare

A Sheffield theatre company have had a great time poking fun at two of the biggest political figures today and now it’s the turn of a cultural icon.
Kyle Williams and Polly Bycroft Brown in The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare at Theatre Deli, SheffieldKyle Williams and Polly Bycroft Brown in The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare at Theatre Deli, Sheffield
Kyle Williams and Polly Bycroft Brown in The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare at Theatre Deli, Sheffield

Blowfish Theatre Company have had hits with two satirical shows, Boris and Trump the Musicals, and now return to their base at Theatre Deli on Eyre Street from November 21-23 with a brand new farce, The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare.

Described as “a very silly show about some very serious theatre”,’ the farce concerns a fictional version of Blowfish Theatre attempting to stage a new masterpiece.

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Blowfish say: “Director Kyle Williams will stop at nothing to stage his biography of Shakespeare, and shake off Blowfish Theatre’s reputation for low-brow, popular musicals.

“Nothing will stand in his way. Not a company of thankless plebs. Not the stupidity of his audience. Definitely not his own incompetence.

“Brimming with Blowfish’s characteristic irreverence and caustic humour, The True Historie of Mr William Shakespeare is a brand new satirical farce that takes aim at culture’s greatest prize and those who yearn after it.”

Co-artistic director of Blowfish, Laurence Peacock, said the company has moved away from political theatre for the moment: “We turned Boris the Musical into a new show, called Now That’s What I Call Brexit, took it up to the Edinburgh Fringe and had a really good run up there.

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“There's too much politics now and when we were planning the show we didn’t quite know how much politics there would be.”

Blowfish are known for shows that constantly change – usually because the stories of the real characters they portray move so fast, forcing endless rewrites simply to keep pace.

Laurence said the new show quickly descends into chaos and even physical violence in the space of an hour: “We start off performing and it all comes crashing down under the weight of greed and desperation.”

“It’s pretty locked down, although it does change every night,” said Laurence. “There was a great moment in Birmingham when I accidentally ran into a chair and started to use it as a weapon.

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“There’s less choreography than our other shows but more smoke machines. Make of that what you will.”

Of course, other comedies have covered similar ground. “It has a similarity to The Show That Goes Wrong, in that that’s what happens. There’s one show that really inspired me, called Starship Osiris.

“What we have done with Shakespeare is satire with a small S. Our jokes and characters are based on the importance of Shakespeare in our culture and the high claims made for art.”

Laurence thinks Shakespeare needs taking down a peg or two.

Needless to say, not many of the Bard’s words actually make it into the show. Laurence reckons the audience will only hear a couple of lines.

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He said the show has gone down well with audiences at Cast in Doncaster, and in Newcastle and Birmingham.

“We’ve had a lot of return audiences. It is really nice to have those people come back. If you enjoyed Boris or Trump, there's something about our manic, cruel energy that you will like in this.”

To book tickets for the show, go online at theatredeli.co.uk/sheffield or call 0114 278 6500.