Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The mix of slapstick and sermonising is certainly original: In Bad Taste reviewed

Plus: an ingenious monologue about a small girl who needs the loo

Sarita Plowman in her ingenious monologue 'The Fall' for Dazed New World Festival. Image: Will Alder 
issue 24 October 2020

In Bad Taste is a slapstick comedy about five female terrorists who murder the governor of the Bank of England. They chop him to pieces, cook him in a casserole and devour the lot. Their plan is to ‘eat the rich’, literally, and to trigger a worldwide revolution. After this grimly hilarious opening the script takes a sharp U-turn when one of the women makes a speech denouncing misogynists. The others agree to drop the revolt against the wealthy and to hunt down nasty men instead. Each woman suggests a candidate for execution: a male colleague who works too sluggishly, a father-in-law who makes judgmental comments, a drunkard who gropes barmaids.

The killing begins. Nine victims are axed to death and their bodies cannibalised. The police launch a manhunt. But the women take umbrage at this. How sexist! Clearly they’re not an easy group to please. After confessing to the crime, they retreat to a hotel which is surrounded by armed cops.

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