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Horrible Histories: The Best of Barmy Britain by the Birmingham Stage Company at the Garrick Theatre, 2 pm or 4 pm. This play alternates with Gangsta Granny. The performance lasted just over an hour.

This play was very suitable for children aged 5 to 12; this group made up 60% of the very lively and enthusiastic audience. We had two engaging actors taking us through interesting history facts from the Romans to WW1. There were plenty of rude jokes (the children really enjoying the lavatory humour eg how the Romans wiped their bums and what the Master of the Stool did in the Tudor Court).

There were songs, one we all learned, to teach us Roman, Saxon and Viking place names. Did you know there are 850 places in Britain ending in ‘by’ (Viking origin)?

Lots of changes of costume on stage; a water pistol fight taken into the audience and a volunteer brought on stage to try out Tudor costumes all made this performance very interactive. It’s amazing you could be thrown in the stocks for 3 days for wearing the wrong colour! Our 9 year old particularly enjoyed all the physical humour.

There were very amusing analogies in some sketches, perhaps some appealing more to the adults? I particularly enjoyed A Dick Turpin scene based on The Only Way is Essex and  WW1 General Haigh as the leader of the losing team in an Apprentice boardroom confrontation with Lord Sugar.

Catch this play while you can as it closes in London on September 2nd.

NB: Mini Travellers received tickets in order to review but all views and opinions are the writers own.