27 October – 1 November
Living Spit theatre company has a quandary: as North Somerset’s leading two-handed satirical comedy troupe dealing with productions based on an historical situation, they are awash with hubris. Surely, think Stu McLoughlin and Bev Rudd, there is nothing they cannot do.
When Zeus and his wife (and sister) Hera overhear their bragging, they set them a truly Herculean task. They must put on a seventy-five minute show covering the top twenty Ancient Greek myths in one go. If they fail, they will forever be plagued by indifferent lighting and poor reviews.
On the basis of this latest production, that is never going to happen. Well, the poor reviews at any rate.
From the moment that the setup is established, juvenile jokes, madcap mayhem and belly laughs fill the auditorium. In true LS style we are treated to a smidgen of toilet humour of the highest kind, but given this is a family show with an age recommendation of 8+ it is not runny, just funny. We get a song called I love Uranus. If we hadn’t, the audience would have felt cheated.
With a set comprising a large wicker basket containing a motley array of childish props with several more strapped to the pillars, McLoughlin and Rudd count down the myths on a video monitor at the side of the stage. Their comic invention operates at full tilt and along the way we meet a jazz poet Hades, spitting rhymes in the underworld, an over-muscled Heracles fighting the Minotaur before speeding away from Ariadne’s dubious charms in a toy motorboat, Orpheus playing air-lute on a tennis racket to soothe the rabid three-headed dog Cerberus. And then there is fleet-footed Hermes, the messenger. Only he has been rebranded as ‘Evri’ and his ability to deliver as efficiently as the god has similarly been downgraded.
McLoughlin and Rudd’s on-stage chemistry is superb, matched only by their quick-fire costume changes, boundless energy, and willingness to find out just how far to take a joke. And then they then push it some more because, like Sisyphus, they are always willing to go a bit further to please an audience.
The Tobacco Factory arranged in the round is an ideal stage for their talents, and from my seat all I could see was broad smiles and people doubled over in unrestrained mirth.
Given the ridiculous number of props, situations, and references to the various gods’ wives also being their sister, director Craig Edwards has put together a performance of sublime, almost omniscient majesty. But with the talents of McLoughlin and Rudd to call upon, it could not really fail. Their commitment to each character, dodgy accent and dedication to their craft is testament to why Living Spit attracts an adoring legion of fans.
So, did they satisfy Zeus and Hera’s demands? Of course they did, because like silly King Midas, everything Living Spit touches turns into gold.
★★★★★ Bryan J Mason, 28 October 2025
Photography credit: Paul Groom
