The cast of the Horrible Histories TV show pulling excited facial expressions beneath the text 'Horrible Histories Live And Dead The Concert'

“It’s going to be chaos in the best way!”

Mon 16th Mar 2026

Children and Family, Features, Events

Behind the scenes with the cast of Horrible Histories – The Concert.

This Easter, Horrible Histories – The Concert comes to Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall (9–11 April) and your favourite characters from the BAFTA Award-winning CBBC TV series will be appearing live on stage! This brand-new production follows the story of William Shakespeare attempting to create the greatest show on earth, told through Horrible Histories’ trademark blend of music and comedy with a live band. Read on to hear a sneak peek behind the curtain from Horrible Histories stars Richard David-Caine, Harrie Hayes and Neal Foster.

Richard, Harrie, Neal, it’s great to meet you! Can you tell us a bit more about the plot of the show?

Richard: Shakespeare’s been asked by his boss, Queen Elizabeth I, to put on the greatest show in history, but immediately everything starts to go wrong, and he needs the help of Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, Cleopatra and a whole host of other famous characters to save him from being executed.

Neal: The thing that’s exciting about this show is that the disaster’s unfolding in front of you. No one knows whether Shakespeare’s going to get away with it, because it's really happening right there!

How’s it all going behind the scenes?

Neal: It’s the biggest show we've ever done. There’s a cast of nine with a live band of five musicians, which we’ve never had in any of our shows before. These Horrible Histories TV songs have been around for a long time, and no one around the country's ever had the chance to see them live on stage and to sing with the actors and join in. So, who knows what it's going to be like in terms of just how much of a riot we're going to create when the characters and the audience can sing these songs together?!

Richard: Exactly. If you’re a fan of the TV show, it’s like watching your favourite rock band.

What characters can we expect you guys to bring to the stage?

Harrie: Elizabeth 1st, Boudica and Stupid Death. I love playing Elizabeth 1st because she is just so childish and bossy, but also funny and silly. I love the costume, I love doing the voice, I love being annoying, which I think she is a lot of the time. I'm so, so excited to get to play her on stage, to tread the wooden boards.

Richard: I'm playing William Shakespeare.

Neal: I'm singing my two favourite songs from the TV series, because I'm singing “The King of Bling” as Charles II and Dick Turpin’s “Highwayman”.I also get to be a Viking!

What are you looking forward to about performing the show?

Richard: Being able to go from the small screen to the big stage, to meet our fans and perform to them and get that instant feedback, that instant connection, feels like such an honour.

Harrie: It’s the reaction of the kids that I’m very excited about. There's lots of scenes where we are interacting with the audience, but also just singing along, joining in with their energy. I think the live shows are going to be chaos in the best way with the kids there. We want them to bring that energy and will bring it right back at them!

Horrible Histories is on at Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall, 9–11 April. Tickets are available here.

Also on at Easter:

For the first time, Brighton Dome is running all-day workshops for 7–11-year-olds in Creative Holiday Club (30 Mar–1 Apr). These fun workshops encourage young ones to flex their creative muscles, building puppets and learning performance skills to bring them to life. Each day focuses on a different set of crafting skills, with themes including handheld monster puppets, animal marionettes, and tabletop character puppets. The workshops are supervised by our experienced staff — all your child needs are comfy clothes and a packed lunch!

Book now.