Photo credit – Holly Revell
As we shuffled politely from Frankie Thompson’s show into the raucous Soho night, a man was overheard asking his partner, ‘How can I describe what we’ve just seen?’ One has to applaud Miss Thompson for creating a performance that might leave punters quite baffled by the experience, especially if they’re blokes. Horrible Things is not a show written for the celebration or amusement of heterosexual men. The women in the audience were definitely making more noise than the boys. It’s not always about you, lads.
Frankie Thompson is the boldest and most committed performer to take to the Soho Theatre stage in some time. Her crowd work and improvisation are terrifying and impressive in equal measure. It’s scary to witness, because her jaunts into the audience to find participants for her unhinged sketches are relentless and far-reaching. To be fair, the audience was warned at the start that audience participation would be non-negotiable. We were even given a 15-second window in which to flee the theatre while Thompson performed a ribbon dance like a child possessed by the devil.
Thompson didn’t just pick from the front row, who were ALL put to work at some point. She’s bounded to the back of the theatre, rabid for victims, climbing over punters and dragging people from the shadows. The fear was twofold. ‘Please, God, not me,’ then the awkward stress of watching her cajole and direct the unpredictable public she’s plucked from peaceful obscurity. She makes the tasks wilfully complex and humiliating and explains them with glib brevity. This approach is usually comedy gold and when a person manages to pull off the challenge, it’s very cheering and hugely funny to witness.
It’s a measure of her authoritative presence and unhinged confidence that at the performance we attended, none of her audience selections backfired once. Everyone was game. Some participants were surprisingly entertaining. The creative spontaneity was hilarious, and nobody appeared traumatised. The key to Thompson’s successful control over the room stems from the stage persona she presents. It’s an intimidating mix of spoilt brat, flirty clown and bossy dictator. Regardless of which personality trait she’s revealing, the overall message is ‘challenge me at your peril’.
Horrible Things dips into recent history to show us ghastly aspects of humanity that might have been overlooked at the time. Thompson takes clips from popular culture and presents them to us again, with ramped up grotesquery, camp humour and a fresh lens. Thompson is a skilled lip synch talent, using vintage audio to prompt a wilier look at the recently departed past. She adds big facial expressions and physical comedy to the lip synch sequences, many of which are creepy without any need for seasoning.
Cliff Richard’s oeuvre becomes ominously sinister in Thompson’s hands. In one segment we hear the late journalist Christopher Hitchens recall being spanked by Margaret Thatcher with a rolled-up parliamentary order paper with what sounds like full S&M intent. In a scene called ‘a selection of men on a park bench’ Thomspon lip syncs to an audio revealing the dark arts of political party whips in Westminster. It’s a festival of blackmail and a possible vehicle for covering up paedophilia and other crimes. Thompson brings life to the audio while chaotically using whipped cream to create the facial hair of these pompous politicians. Beneath the hilarity and madcap banter with the audience is the inescapable reality that the material she’s subverting and highlighting is factual history on the record. This happened. People said that. Nobody batted an eyelid.
Frankie Thompson’s Horrible Things are mostly men, power, fame and the establishment. Anyone who might take issue with her assessment should open their eyes and catch a ride on the clue train. The concurrent scandals of David Walliams and Russell Brand prompted a dip into their past output. The signs were all there. They were hiding in plain sight. In fact, they bragged of their exploits on live TV and the nation laughed along while those in power enabled them. Frankie Thompson’s Horrible Things shows us that this awe of charisma and quiet complicity with evil is nothing new. If anything, it’s more rampant than ever. And she’s right, it’s usually men.
Horrible Things is at Soho Theatre is until November 26
Reviewer: Stewart Who?
Reviewed: 12th November 2026
Theatre Muse Rating: ****
