Set in the very near future, Trump The Musical imagines a world where King Nigel Farage rules a privatised England, Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear program has reached its zenith, The Donald is running for re-election into a second term, and Vladimir Putin is suspiciously silent.
If this all sounds a bit grim then fear not, because Blowfish Theatre, the minds behind 2017’s Boris The Musical, have got their dial set firmly to ‘raucous parody’ in a manner that would undoubtedly see them placed in a work camp in more than one of the countries targeted.
If you like your satire dark and biting, then Trump the Musical! is probably not for you, as the writing is done in broad strokes more reminiscent of Team America than The Death of Stalin. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, and the six-member production are drilled to perfection, with excellent delivery and comic timing, whilst also maintaining an air of exuberant fun that really keeps things bouncing along. The writing pushes the bounds of the surreal, with set-pieces ranging from a shooting in a Waitrose car park to a one-tank invasion of Scotland and a computer-game style evasion of the KGB.
It may well be that Blowfish Theatre’s brand of satire is not for everyone – it’s certainly not for children – but if you’re looking for an evening of big laughs, jolly tunes about Donald Trump’s toilet habits, and a troubling but ultimately probably quite accurate insight into the tiny-handed one’s mental processes, then Trump the Musical! is certainly something you should check out.
Trump the Musical! is in Oxford on 28th June and at Edinburgh throughout August – blowfishtheatre.weebly.com
Words: Max Cubberley
