Talking HORRIBLE HISTORIES with Neal Foster, Harrie Hayes and Richard David-Caine
An Easter Treat at MAYFLOWER THEATRE in 2026
Interviewer: Warren Higgins 10th December 2025
Three of the cast Of Horrible Histories who are bringing The Concert Live (and dead) on stage! gather to chat with Warren Higgins about the new concept and their parts in this brand new show. First we have Richard David-Caine, one of the BBC show’s longest-serving performers, also known for Class Dismissed and CBeebies’ Swashbuckle and then there is Harrie Hayes, who has embodied history’s most iconic royals, from Elizabeth I to Marie Antoinette on the BBC series and finally, Neal Foster, the company’s Actor/Manager and creative force behind all the Horrible Histories Live on Stage shows since 2005.
Richard & Harrie, as regular cast members of the TV series, are you looking forward to joining Neil and the theatre team on this tour?
Harrie: Massively, because he’s been doing this for 20 years. I came to see Barmy Britain in in 2012 at the Fringe in Edinburgh, it was the first year of the West End show and it transferred to the Edinburgh Festival. So that’s 13 years ago that I met Neil and I’ve been working very hard to try to work with him since then.
Did you read the Horrible Histories books growing up?
Richard & Harrie: Yes, Yes
Neal: I didn’t as I’m too old. I’m the oldest person actually in the theatre business.
Harrie: When I came to see Barmy Britain most recently, your shows feel like opening the books on stage, what’s in your head as a kid reading the books is whats in front of you live and I think that’s the most exciting thing for me. What we do on the TV show is a lot of fun, but we don’t get to do it in front of an audience, so it’s the reaction of the kids that I’m very excited about.
Richard: People don’t realise that filming the TV series can be quite lonely because you’re just doing these huge characters and these ridiculous sketches to just a few camera people and as much as they’re lovely, they’re not employed to laugh at us. So being able to go from the small screen to the big stage, it just feels like such an honour and to be able to meet our fans and perform to them and get that instant feedback, that instant connection.
Richard & Harrie, you have both done plenty of stage work before, is it that different to what you do on TV?
Richard: Yeah, I think it’s massively difficult. As I said, getting instant gratification, that instant feedback there’s electricity in the space where once you create a character and you bring it to life in front of people, they respond to it immediately. You ride on that wave and then they ride on your wave and a beautiful kind of comedy cycle is born.
Neal: I don’t think the public realises, even regular theatre goers just how Important role they play in a theatre show. I just did some Horrible Histories Gorgeous Georgians & Vile Victorians performances last week and it’s fascinating. The difference it makes when you get an audience that’s really up for it, it changes the show completely and I don’t think the public are aware of it at all. Often in the theatre you can often only see the front row, people think when we stand in front of a crowd, 2000 people that we can see 2000 people. Actually, you could probably only see 12 people and that’s the people on the front row. The reaction of those 12 people is incredibly powerful to how you feel about the show, if they are beaming and smiling and laughing, I mean, it just changes the whole experience for you because you’re getting the reaction immediately.
Harrie: When we were filming it, you’re doing it to a room full of adults and with this we’re doing it for kids so they’re part of the performance. There’s lots of parts where we are interacting with the audience, but also just singing along, joining in with their energy, our energy – I think potentially the live shows are going to be chaos in the best way with the with the kids there. We want them to bring that energy and will bring it right back at them.
Neal: These Horrible Histories songs have been around for a long time; we feature 16 songs in the show. They’re so loved and no one around the country’s ever had the chance to see them live on stage and to sing with the actors, to join in, ’cause we’re going to do that all the time. So, who knows what it’s going to be like in terms of just how much of A riot we’re going to create when finally, you know, Shakespeare is singing with you, Charles II is singing with you, Queen Elizabeth is singing with you, for the first time ever getting the chance to join in with these songs.
Richard: Exactly. I think that that’s a big difference with the previous work that we created. Those characters and routines that no one ever seen before this show comes with a great excitement of ‘I know these songs, I know the people who sing these songs, I know the characters’ so it’s like watching a new band for the first time versus. Get cut out for a little bit just before that. Like a new band and your favourite rock band that’s been going for a few years.
Harrie: Yeah, exactly the difference between listening to it on a CD(!) which is absolutely fantastic to going to see them live performing it and screaming and singing along.
Richard: Do we have CDs?
Harrie: Alright listening to them on Spotify!
So, what characters can we expect you guys to be bring to the stage?
Harrie: Elizabeth 1st, Boudica and Stupid Death.
Richard: I’m just William Shakespeare, but I looked like death!
Neal: I get to play Charles II, Dick Turpin, and various other characters as I’m doing a lot of the supporting parts as well, so I’ll have a more costumes than anyone.
Richard, can you tell us a bit more about the plot of the show?
Richard: Shakespeare’s trying to put on a show in which to entertain our audience, but also to appease his employer., our lovely Queen Elizabeth 1st. Unfortunately through a bit of a mistake the finale is played at the beginning of the show and suddenly we’re left without a finale, to which Shakespeare has to hide this fact from Elizabeth 1st. The show is falling apart and he’s desperately trying to fix it whilst performing the show in real time yet we’re also constantly trying to think about the ending because we don’t have an ending and so we’re just trying to patch it together as we go.
Neal: The trick about this show, is like this is really happening really in front of you, the disaster is unfolding in front of you, so the audience are in on it. No one knows how it’s going to work or whether Shakespeare is going to get away with it or just how disastrous it’s going to because it’s really happening, and the audience are involved in seeing it happening.
Richard: Its exactly along the same veins of mischief plays, their actual errors and accidents that are happening in front of the audience, which is a joy to behold because we all feel this kind of electricity because of the things are falling apart in front of us.
What’s been the best character from history each of you have played?
Harrie: I love playing Elizabeth 1st because she is just so childish and bossy, but also funny and silly, that’s my favourite. I love the costume, I love doing the voice, I love being annoying, which I think she is a lot of the time. It was very competitive. I’m so, so excited to get to play her on stage, to tread the wooden boards.
Neal: In terms of the television series, I’ve ended up with my two favourite songs from the series, because I’ve ended up with the Charles II and Dick Turpin. Mathew Baynton is sort of a mythic hero now of the Horrible Histories genre, and to be singing two of those songs and the Viking song – which is one of the great songs of the television series. So, who knows, after this show it will be my favourite, favourite. Maybe this will blow everything out of water, I’ll just want to be in television for the rest of my life and I’ll be begging “let me in!”.
Richard: Wow, how long I’ve been a part of this brand, maybe a decade or something? I’ve played so many hundreds of characters, I’m not exaggerating, there have been a lot. I think one that particularly stands out is James 1st, which you might get a sneaky glimpse of in the show if you’re lucky and you pay full price for your tickets! He’s just so wild and unpredictable, even I don’t know what’s going to come out of my mouth. I sort of get possessed by this Scottish demon when I’m playing him and it’s just an excuse to be incredibly playful as an actor.
How are rehearsals going?
Neal: We’ve only been rehearsing a few days and we come from two different worlds yet it’s already like one of the best experiences as the feeling in the room is so great. Part of the reason this production has happened is because of what happened with the BBC Proms show ‘Orrible Opera. That was first time that TV and the stage companies came together and the reason we’re doing this one is because we all enjoyed doing the prom and had so much fun together. We enjoyed working each other and saw how fantastic everybody was in their own spheres and what everybody brought to a live show. So, we really wanted to do something again. This seems to be as good as it gets.
Richard: Everyone’s on the same page, even if they come from different mediums, it’s all the same school of comedy.
Everything seems to be ramping up for this production, bigger cast, bigger venues, bigger tunes – how is it all working out behind the scenes?
Neal: It’s the biggest show we’ve ever done, it’s a cast of nine, there’s a live band – we’ve never had a live band in any of our shows before. It’s got video with the footage being filmed by Lion Television (producers of Horrible Histories on the BBC). I think there are about 50 costumes, wigs, hats, props, it’s an enormous show and it’s a big undertaking, but we made a lot of progress we’ve and that’s because it actually works. We’ve great people in the room, everybody contributes, we’ve got the producers from Lion Television who sit in with the rehearsal, so they contribute all the time. The script writers are on it, they’re changing things as we report back every night. This is what we want to change. So, so many people involved. It doesn’t feel difficult or complicated. It’s just it’s all happening and that’s not something you can’t say that’s typical in a lot of shows where you’re constantly jumping hurdles and so far so good.
If everything goes as well as it seems to be going, will be any more future collaborations?
Richard: No, never!
Harrie: A one woman show, Elizabeth 1st on stage, on the screen!
The Historical City of Southampton are certainly looking forward to welcoming you all to Mayflower Theatre on Maundy Thursday and providing us with a hot cross treat on Good Friday and then an exciting Easter Saturday ( 2nd to 4th April 2026 ).
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