As part of the CPT’s 30th Birthday celebrations, Sh!t Theatre are back with two cult Christmas classics pitted against one another: ‘Sing-A-Long A Muppet Christmas Carol’ vs. ‘Shit Actually’.
You’re tackling two iconic Christmas films – The Muppet Christmas Carol and Love Actually – in your own unique style this December. What’s your creative process like when taking something so beloved (or reviled) and giving it the Sh!t Theatre treatment?
We can’t tell you or we’d have to kill you. But we will tell you this – it involves drinking a lot of tea. We are literally sat on a train right now on tour, carrying around a sack full of Yorkshire tea bags.
You describe your shows as being “political and personal” with a DIY aesthetic. How do these themes play out in Sing-A-Long-A-Muppet Christmas Carol and Sh!t Actually, especially with the cultural backdrop of Christmas and the films you’re parodying?
We don’t consider either show a parody – one is an absolute love letter, the other is also a love letter, but one that you’d send to someone you can’t let go despite the harm they’ve caused you.
Sh!t Theatre is known for its improvisational style and live re-writing. How much of Sh!t Actually and Sing-A-Long-A-Muppet Christmas Carol will change depending on the audience or your mood in the moment?
Sh!t Actually involves helping two audience members fall in love. One time it actually worked! So that changes based on that. With Muppets, rather than being improvised, everyone in the room is improvising and forming their own new traditions that then play out every year. Each town is different, for example, Cambridge always bring After Eights to share and invented the catchphrase ‘BLINK MICHAEL’ in support of Michael Caine.
You’ve built a loyal following with your mix of comedy, politics, and performance art. How do you keep your shows fresh and exciting while staying true to the things that have made Sh!t Theatre so unique?
Most of our shows feature gratuitous nudity and our bodies are always changing. Maybe it’s that??
Both of these Christmas films have had a big impact on pop culture, but they come with their own baggage (one being loved, the other being, well… Love Actually). Which one do you personally have more fun deconstructing, and why?
Firstly, we agree. Charles Dickens’ ‘Sing-along-a-Muppet Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is the ultimate book of our times. Re: its baggage, Michael Caine is doing his best, we can’t all be Kermit. Love Actually is too easy to deconstruct and hate, so it’s more fun to find something to love about it. It is Christmas after all!
Sing-A-Long A Muppet Christmas Carol and Sh!t Actually are on at the Camden People’s Theatre, London until 21st December. For tickets and more information, visit: https://cptheatre.co.uk/