4 – 9 November
It is 1906 and the New York City Board of Health and Sanitation are very worried. The number of typhoid cases in the city is growing. Not only that, but some cannot be traced to infected water or milk. There can only be one possible source.
Introduce fierce, foul-mouthed, Northern Irish cook Mary Mallon along with her nemesis, the intrepid investigator Dr George Soper, who is determined to track her down and stop her spreading disease and death.
There’s Something About Typhoid Mary is the latest show by Living Spit. This means that Stu Mcloughlin is once more cross dressing in a way only he can. He plays a pale, filthy and deceased Mary, and live cooks a three-course meal to be served up to the audience. If they dare.
This is the first Living Spit show devised since the sad loss of Howard Coggins in 2023. It has adapted brilliantly – there remain the trademark sprinkling of appallingly funny puns, scatological humour, sharp dialogue, potty mouthed rants and, most importantly, laughs in abundance.
Mcloughlin is joined by Bristol based actor Lucy Tuck, playing both George Soper and the alarmingly butch Dr Sara Josephine Baker. Both pursue a self-centred approach to tracking and tying Mary down. But in whose interest?
Tuck is a superb performer and together with Mcloughlin they make a hilarious double act. Tuck’s physicality and force of personality provide moments of real dramatic depth. Scenes are quick fire, authentically antagonistic and generate infectious laughter.
The show has all the right ingredients, even if some of the results of the live cooking demonstration are, understandably, hard to swallow. A number of dubious dishes are served up to a reluctant audience. They are one star on the hygiene rating, but five stars on the glee gauge. The remainder of this hugely enjoyable show contains expert puppetry, a vast number of jokes about genitalia, lots of (appropriate) swearing and a satisfyingly savage ending. It is real blood and guts comedy, and as sick as it is slick.
The subject matter is slightly darker than usually associated with this troupe, which is saying a lot considering previous shows have dealt with World War 2 and Frankenstein. We learn that Mary was forcibly detained in a hospital for years because she was an asymptomatic carrier, possibly to promote the careers of Soper and Baker. A final reckoning by the audience determines who you believe.
The songs in a Living Spit show are an integral part, and they are all dished up in outrageously bad taste. Despite a lack of live music, each one is delivered with relish. Particularly brilliant is a syncopated rap about toilet hygiene and the need for the temporary removal of Mary’s gall bladder. Snoop Dogg, eat your heart out.
If you like your humour salty, shocking and perched right at the edge of the toilet seat, then this is for you. It is highly contagious fun of pandemic proportions.
★★★★★ Bryan J Mason, 5 November 2024
Photo credit: Paul Groom
