Speakerphone Productions opens two shows in London next month: Under the Influence, a new musical comedy at the King's Head Theatre from 8 September, and HAM, a Fringe First-winning twist on Hamlet, at Soho Theatre from 29 September.
Speakerphone Productions has two London openings booked for September, and they could hardly be less alike: a musical comedy about identical twins in couples therapy, and a Fringe First-winning reworking of Hamlet told from the point of view of a vegan.
First comes Under the Influence, which runs at the King's Head Theatre from 8-26 September 2026, with press night on Friday 11 September at 9.15pm. It is written by The Gilbert Twins and Shona Maule, and directed by Georgie Rankcom.
Carine Gilbert and Frances Gilbert supply the book and lyrics, with lyrics, composition and musical direction by Shona Maule. All three perform. Tom Turner designs the lighting and Michelle Payn is associate director.
The premise is drawn from life. Known online as @thegilberttwins to an audience of more than three million, the sisters went into couples therapy together as, the show has it, the world's most co-dependent non-couple. What follows on stage is a musical intervention about sisterhood, online pressure and the search for a voice of your own. Running time is 60 minutes, and the show is recommended for ages 14 and over.
HAM follows at Soho Theatre, which co-presents Hotter Project's piece with Speakerphone Productions from 29 September - 31 October 2026. Press night is Friday 2 October at 6.45pm, and the production arrives carrying a Scotsman Fringe First Award from 2026.
Created and performed by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, and directed by Ursula Martinez, it recasts Hamlet as an ecological revenge story: a grieving vegan, a dead pig, and a play staged as the ultimate act of retribution. Meat, madness and shame drive a wrestling match between a vegan and a sausage-lover, played out as humankind heads for the exit. Rūta Irbīte designs set and costume and David Doyle the lighting, with sound by Tom Foskett-Barnes and movement by Abbi Greenland. This one also runs 60 minutes, and is 18+.
Higgins and Potter first brought Hotter Project to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Hotter in 2017, selling out three runs before touring the UK; Fitter and The Last Show Before We Die followed, and HAM marks their return to the Fringe with a newly devised piece. The Guardian has described their work as "vividly, viscerally alive".
