Spalding’s Act II Theatre Company plotting 10th satirical revue show

A decade of no-holds-barred laughs will be celebrated later this year.

Spalding’s Act II Theatre Company has begun planning its ever-popular annual revue.

The side-splitting satirical show - which even continued to entertain audiences with much needed belly laughs during the Covid pandemic - will return for a 10th year in December.

And, once again, the good, bad and ugly of global and local news could be in line for a sideways swipe.

“The writing process begins fairly late in the year and now’s the time of year we seriously start looking at what news stories we want to use and how to write them,” explained Karl Gernert who pens the show with his wife Charlotte.

“We scribble news stories down on our phones throughout the year, things we think could be used. But we start putting ideas together now and in November we begin to write it.

“It’s certainly changed the way I watch the news.”

Writing and rehearsing a show in less than two months may seem a bold challenge, but tight deadlines for an ever-evolving show gets the adrenaline pumping for the team.

“I love it,” continued Karl, who believes diving into the great unknown only gets the creative juices flowing faster.

“The best ones are when the script is still fluid when we’re up and running.

“One year Theresa May was getting the no confidence vote letters coming in as we were doing the show. Our voiceover guy was halfway up Scafell Pike and having to record a new one there.”

The revue is known - and loved - for its near-the-knuckle sense of humour. But Karl is keen to avoid punching down or getting cheap laughs from unnecessary cruelty.

“With any awkward story we have to think about what we’re doing,” he added, when asked how he would approach this year’s big news stories.

“First of all, we want to make people laugh. We’re not there to offend people. There’s no value in having a pop at the Queen, I don’t think she warrants it.

“But there were lots of other things - such as the amount of marmalade sandwiches being left as tributes - that were very British. That’s the sort of angle we could look at.

“One idea Charlotte had was to write a version of Gogglebox, people watching the Royal Funeral. But days later we saw it in the TV listings - ‘Gogglebox does the Queen’s Funeral’. It’s getting harder - sometimes you fear satire is dead when you see what’s going on in the world.”

Familiar favourites Vladimir Putin - who has evolved from a menacing Bond villain to a camper character over the years and Keir Starmer - once lampooned with a ‘Starmer Chameleon’ ditty - could be re-appearing this year with one or two new stars.

“(Donald) Trump is easy to do. Boris (Johnson) is easy. I don’t think we ever nailed Jeremy Corbyn in a satirical sense. But Liz Truss will be a fun one to write,” Karl continued.

“Hopefully there will be a few local angles as well, plus some celeb stories as not everyone is into politics.”

The audiences who have been enjoying the revue since its inception in 2013 may also have noticed changes over the years.

“I think we’ve got braver,” Karl said.

“The first year we were a lot more concerned about what we wrote. But people come knowing what to expect, and to leave their taste at the door.

“The last couple of years, after Covid and the energy crisis, people need a laugh and a bit of relief from the world.”

While Charlotte directs Karl will maintain his record of appearing in every revue, this year rejoined by recent regulars Jo Wheatley, Olivia Black and Penelope Harrall.

“I’ve performed in every single one,” Karl continued.

“It’s one thing to be rude about somebody and put those words in somebody else’s mouth, and another thing to stand on stage and say it yourself. It’s about ownership.”

Tickets are not on sale yet, but dates have been set for this year’s revue, which will run on Wednesday and Thursday, December 14-15 (8pm) and twice nightly on Friday and Saturday, December 16-17 (7pm and 9pm) at the company’s Clay Lake studios.