INTERVIEW: 'Me and Shakespeare are in the same business'
TERRY Deary — the man who created Horrible Histories — was at Warwick Castle earlier this week to open a new maze inspired by his hugely-popular series of books.
Mr Deary met local schoolchildren and members of Warwickshire Scout groups at the opening of the maze that he said would bring history to life.
“It’s much better than I imagined it would be when it was first discussed a couple of years ago,” he told the Herald.
“It’s a great interactive experience for everyone to learn and understand history, as well as enjoy a run around, and it keeps the brand going, which is just amazing.
“There’s an awful lot of interest in Horrible Histories still, which I am proud and thankful for, and it’s great to be here to see it for myself.”
This is the third time the worlds of Warwick Castle and Horrible Histories have collided. Last year saw the launch of the Wicked Warwick live stage show and in 2013 the castle hosted Horrible Histories’ 20th anniversary celebrations.
The latest link-up is a multi-sensory that features moving walls, interactive puzzles, stone, wicker and water, as well as being crammed with Mr Deary’s foul facts and Martin Brown’s crazy cartoons.
The aim is not to reach the centre, but to make your way through time, collecting stamps along the way, encountering the familiar Stormin’ Normans, Slimy Stuarts and the treacherous Gunpowder Plotters, and Wicked Witches along the way in a gripping and gruesome history lesson that Mr Deary has become famous for.
In 2014 he described school as a waste of time and admitted to deliberately littering his books with subversive messages for his young readers.
He told the Herald this week: “I don’t take any credit for the way history is taught, it’s not my place. I have my views on school education, but all I do is provide an alternative, I am here to provide something different.
"I write for people, human beings and children are human beings, if adults like it then it’s not a surprise, I get as many letters from adults as I do from children saying they enjoy HH, so that’s great."
Praising efforts to make one of the greatest historical icons, William Shakespeare, more mainstream, which the Royal Shakespeare Company is planning to do with a hi-tech production of The Temptest later this year, that will feature big screen-style special effects, Mr Deary added: “The RSC is very much trying to make their subject populist, it can be frowned upon, but there is nothing wrong with that as far as I am concerned."
In this special year when the world celebrates the legacy of one of the greatest storytellers of all time, the Herald could not let one of this era’s greatest go without finding out his favourite Shakespeare play. He chose two: one tragedy and one history.
“My favourite is MacBeth, in fact we have the live show running at the moment. It ends on Shakespeare’s birthday, when we’ll probably have a big booze-up!
“Richard III is an exciting, funny play, it may not be historically accurate, but who cares?”
Asked what he thought Shakespeare might have thought about his retelling of history, Mr Deary added: “He and I are in the same business, so I hope he would appreciate what I am doing.”
