WATCH: Zombie comedy musical in Fareham to explore hyper-masculinity issues

Set after the royal wedding, taking place this Saturday, a zombie apocalypse sends London into chaos and main characters Tom and Bunny team up on an adventure across the country to safety.

Artistic director Robyn Grant and musician Johnny Holbeck were inspired to create Tom and Bunny Save the World: The Musical while living in London and wanted to explore hyper masculinity roles used in action films.

Robyn said: ‘It happens straight after the royal wedding so you never know, Harry and Meghan need to watch out!

‘From there it follows Tom who is a nerdy posh boy and Bunny who is a Yorkshire lass and their adventure up north to safety and a good cup of tea.

‘Along the way they meet different people from different regions and although there are some questionable accents it was great to use a variety of different humours which reflects while we have been touring as people get different bits and find some jokes funny because they are so relatable to them and where they live.’

The 23-year-old added: ‘We watched all the zombie spoofs and we realised they are full of hyper masculine roles and so that is something we wanted to turn on its head and so our piece is full with strong female roles.

‘I think when people hear the words masculinity, femininity and other social political issues they just switch off but through a comedy musical we feel it is easier to carry those messages and entertain people at the same time.’

The team of six from Fat Rascal Theatre have been touring the production around the country and performed the piece at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Robyn said: ‘We are all from different places so it has been great to take the production back to our home towns.

‘My business partner Laura Elmes is from Fareham so that is part of the reason we have brought the piece to Fareham.’

Tom and Bunny Save the World: The Musical is on at Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham on Thursday May 17.

Laura, who grew up in Fareham before entering the world of stage and screen, said: ‘Being from Fareham I thought it would be really nice to bring it back and the Ashcroft is the perfect place to stage it as they have similar programming to us.’

Robyn added: ‘I really would like to make it into film and I think it would really lend itself to that.’

Once the group have finished their tour, they will begin their new production.

Robyn said: ‘We are doing a comedy superhero musical that will again explore feminist roles and making them more prominent.

‘It should be a lot of fun!’

Tickets for the performance are available uk.patronbase.com/_AshcroftArtsCentreEvents/Productions/A523/Performances