Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

A naked pamphleteering exercise: Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical, at Phoenix Theatre, reviewed

Plus: Stumped, at Hampstead Theatre, about Beckett, Pinter and cricket, is terrific entertainment

The puppetry is first-class: Carrie and Boris Johnson in Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical. Credit: Mark Senior 
issue 08 July 2023
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  • Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical

    Phoenix Theatre, until 26 August

  • Stumped

    Hampstead Theatre, until 22 July

Nothing demonstrates the inanity of profanity like an undercooked comedy. The famous Spitting Image puppets have returned in a political musical that’s more cuddly than cutting. Writers Matt Forde and Al Murray add a lot of swearing to their punchlines without understanding why. The temptation to use the F-bomb is a warning sign from the writer’s internal editor: ‘Delete and try again.’

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