Heads Will Roll and Mummies Will Rise as Horrible Histories Hits Nottingham

Written by Katie Barr

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History lessons are about to get a lot less dusty and a lot more disgusting, as Horrible Histories returns to the stage with not one, but two brilliantly bonkers shows for the whole family. Coming to Theatre Royal Nottingham from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 June 2026, Terrible Tudors and Awful Egyptians promise all the blood, brains, battles and belly laughs you would expect from the much-loved series. Forget polite timelines and neat little facts — this is history with the horrible bits very much left in.

Perfect for curious kids, nostalgic grown-ups and anyone who secretly enjoys learning something while pretending they are just there for the chaos, these live shows bring Terry Deary’s bestselling books to life in true Horrible Histories style. Expect gruesome stories, larger-than-life characters and eye-popping 3D special effects that quite literally throw the past into the audience.

In Terrible Tudors, audiences will be swept from the horrible Henries to the end of evil Elizabeth, with plenty of royal drama along the way. There are headless wives, punch-ups with the Pope, Bloody Mary, and even the Spanish Armada sailing terrifyingly close to your seat. It is everything your school history book hinted at, but funnier, ruder and much more memorable.

Then there is Awful Egyptians, where the fascinating Pharaohs, powerful pyramids and meanest mummies take centre stage. From death and decay to the Gates of the Afterlife, this is Ancient Egypt as you have never quite seen it before — messy, marvellous and completely unafraid to dig up the foul facts.

What makes Horrible Histories so enduringly brilliant is that it never talks down to children. It knows that young audiences are smart, curious and absolutely delighted by anything involving a bit of gore, drama or toilet-adjacent humour. Parents, meanwhile, get the joy of watching children laugh their way through history without realising quite how much they are learning.

The shows are written by Terry Deary, Neal Foster and JP Cherrington, based on Deary’s hugely popular books, which have sold millions of copies around the world. They are produced by Birmingham Stage Company, the team behind numerous Horrible Histories stage productions as well as family favourites including Gangsta Granny, Awful Auntieand George’s Marvellous Medicine.

Whether you choose the torturing Tudors, the revolting Egyptians, or decide to make a properly horrible day of it and see both, this promises to be a wonderfully wild theatre trip for ages 5 to 105.

History has rarely been this funny — or this gloriously foul.

Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors & Awful Egyptians runs at Theatre Royal Nottingham from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 June 2026. Tickets are available from www.trch.co.uk or via the Box Office on 0115 989 5555.

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All content is original to The Literary Lounge.

In-article images credited to Mark Douet. No changes were made to these images. 

Featured Image provided by Theatre Royal Nottingham. 

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