Expect the unexpected from a tale as old as time

Terrific comedy theatre company Living Spit is back with its Disney-defying version of Beauty and The Beast. NATALIE BANYARD talks to actor and co-founder Stu McLoughlin about all things beastly

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Harry Humberstone and Stu McLoughlin in Living Spit's Beauty and the Beast. Photo Paul Groom

(Photo Paul Groom)

OUR very own fabulous character-comedy team Living Spit is back with its monstrously marvellous show, Beauty and The Beast. And audiences should expect the unexpected from this tale as old as time.

Packed to the rafters with Living Spit's trademark mix of comedy, role changes, silliness, and an eclectic musical score, this gloriously funny, Disney-defying version of the 18th century French fable has been delighting audiences on tour over Christmas, and now heads to Tobacco Factory Theatres from January 22 to 24.

Living Spit co-founder Stu McLoughlin is joined by local comic actor and musician Harry Humberstone to breathe new and unconventional life into the classic story, in which a bright and beautiful young woman is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realise the kind heart and soul that lies within.

But how can either of them play the ugly, foul-tempered beast when they are, as Stu tells me, the most physically attractive performers in the UK?

Beauty and The Beast was written back in 2020 by Living Spit creators Stu and the much-missed Howard Coggins, who we lost to cancer in 2023.

The North Somerset-based duo - and brothers-in-law - co-founded Living Spit in 2012 and, as a comedy double act, co-wrote, produced and performed 18 shows together, including Offie award-nominated