Interview: Voice artists Debra Stephenson, Jess Robinson, Kathryn Drysdale & Lorna Laidlaw on IDIOTS ASSEMBLE: SPITTING IMAGE SAVES THE WORLD

Previews are now well underway at Birmingham Rep for the world premiere of Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World. Earlier this week, we sat down with Debra Stephenson (The Impressions Show, Dead Ringers), Jess Robinson (Spitting Image, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice), Kathryn Drysdale (The Windsors, Bridgerton), and Lorna Laidlaw (Coronation Street, Getting It Straight) who are all lending their voices to multiple puppets in the production.

How did you get into voice acting specifically? 

JR: I originally wanted to be an actor in musical theatre but then I heard the part of Little Voice coming up. I lied and said I could do impressions (I couldn’t). I had to learn how to do Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Bassey and amazingly, I could do it! I got the job and that’s how I started being an impressionist - I don’t even like em’ really.

LL: My story is nowhere near as juicy as that! They just asked me to do it and I said yes! But that’s what you want, they had confidence. They said ‘we want Lorna’ and I went ‘bring it on!’

DS: I started copying my Dad who did impressions of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. When I was 15, I sent a cassette tape to Spitting Image with a selection of my impressions and that’s how I became a voice artist. 30 years later, it feels very satisfying to be back on the Spitting Image team.

KD: I also started at home in front of my Mum and Dad. When I got an acting role, I would always start with a voice. My voice is quite distinctive and I imagined the characters would have a very different voice to my own. Carrying their weight differently and rhythm depending on where they are located etc. 

What celebrity (who’s not portrayed in the show) would you like to see as a puppet?

JR: Ooo anyone? I’ll tell you what, I do love the Olivia Coleman puppet, she’s not in the show but was in the TV show. So I would say her or Liza Minnelli would be incredible. With massive eyelashes, crazy hair, sequins and high kicks with tiny little wooden legs!

DS: I would like to see Klaus Schwab.

LL: I think I would love to see Angela Bassett because Wakanda Forever is my favourite at the moment and she’s a bit iconic.

KD: I would quite like to see Robert De Niro. 

If you could choose a puppet to voice, who would it be?

DS: Marilyn Monroe, I love playing her but when I look in the mirror, it’s so flipping disappointing! 

KD: Vivien Leigh and Shirley Bassey.

What’s it like bringing such an iconic TV satire from television to the stage?

JR: We’re making the performance even bigger! It’s there, live and there is absolutely no room for subtlety, which really suits me. The main difference is we can be naughty. It’s great to have a whole through story rather than lots of different sketches, so you are really routing for some of the characters. 

DS: It’s harder in the theatre because you have to match the puppet and be much bigger.

KD: So from first rehearsals, we imagined we were on the stage and had to project. Picturing who this is for etc. 

If you were to have a puppet modelled on yourself, what characteristics would you have?

JR: I’m going to speak for both myself and Lorna - really loud laughs!

LL: Yeah, really loud laughs. Lots of energy, our puppets would not sit still for long!

JR: Mine would be obsessed with toilet humour!

LL: OMG, we might have to have the same puppet! 

Both: They would look exactly the same!

Which is your favourite puppet in the stage production?

JR: I voice Greta [Thunberg] and I am in love with her! She is fabulous, it’s funny because some of the characters we are really savage with. You can tell who the goodies and the baddies are - and Greta is a goodie. It’s a caricature but it’s much more gentle, loving and sweet. I think she’s a hero!

LL: Oh, I like Tom Cruise. That puppet, I howled when I saw it - it’s like a small child! I did not envisage that and the whole thing about him being an ‘action hero’ and being so little. I think he’s fantastic but all of them are. All the puppets are so imaginative and so creative - it’s a thing of beauty. 

Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World plays at Birmingham Rep until 11 March, with tickets available here. Keep your eyes peeled for our second Idiots Assemble interview over the weekend, Besties.