Birmingham Rep have announced two new world premiere comedies to start the New Year ’23; live on stage for the very first time - Spitting Image Live: Featuring the Liar King (1 Feb-11 Mar 2023) and The Way Old Friends Do (17 Feb-4 Mar 2023), a new comedy set in Birmingham.

Artistic Director Sean Foley said: “It’s not often you get to direct Tom Cruise, Stormzy, Boris Johnson, Beyonce, and Her Majesty the Queen all on the same bill... I’m thrilled to be part of the team bringing this iconic British comedy to the stage - in particular to be working with the inspiring Roger Law, original co-creator of this legendary show. From the scathing to the silly, from brutal political satire to sending up celebrity, Spitting Image has always fearlessly pointed at the Emperors of our society and gleefully stripped them naked. This live show will be no different…”

Whilst Boris and his chums level themselves ever upwards to the sunlit uplands, Spitting Image are preparing to level them down to size in a theatrical extravaganza like no other. Join the circle of lies and see the puppets live on stage for the first time ever. Witness a monstrous cast of stars including The Liar King himself, Boris Johnson. Plus Tom Cruise & Michael Gove (together on stage for the very first time), Adele, Tyson Fury, Harry & Meghan, Stormzy, Beyoncé, Vladimir Putin & Xi Jinping, and many more.

Written by Al Murray, Matt Forde and Sean Foley, the piece is also directed by Foley. This is sure to be the must-see theatrical spectacular of 2023.

The Way Old Friends Do will receive its world premiere at The Rep ahead of a UK tour. In 1988, two Birmingham school friends tentatively come out to one another: one as gay, the other - more shockingly - as an ABBA fan. Nearly thirty years later, a chance meeting sets them on a brand-new path and they decide to form the world’s first ABBA tribute band - in drag! But can their friendship survive the tribulations of a life on the road which includes platform boots, fake beards and a distractingly attractive stranger?

Kit de Waal, Birmingham born and bred writer of My Name is Leon, together with Dean O’Loughlin, will collaborate on a new play for future production about the visit of Malcolm X to  Birmingham in 1965. In an extraordinary and little known visit - only nine days before his assassination in New York - Malcolm X had answered the call of local Black and Asian Civil Rights activists to come and assist them, after the racist election campaign run by the Conservative candidate in Smethwick had stirred racial hostility.

Tickets for all of these new productions are now on sale to members with general booking opening at 12pm on 30 June. To book tickets, please click here.