Tuesday 9 August 2022 05:01 PM Comedy group branded 'cruel and disgusting' for sell-out Edinburgh Festival ... trends now
Furious critics have branded a controversial sold-out comedy musical which jokes about the disappearance of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews 'cruel and disgusting'.
Dark comedy group K*** and the Gang have sold out their four-week run of 'Shannon Matthews: The Musical' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this month.
Nine-year-old Shannon was the victim of a faked kidnapping by 'Britain's worst mother' Karen Matthews in 2008, who drugged, tied up and hid her own daughter as she plotted to pocket a £50,000 reward.
K*** and the Gang's fictional musical, which focuses its jokes on the true story of the schoolgirl's fake abduction, will features songs such as 'Shannon's not dead (she's under my bed)'.
Other tunes that will feature in the musical include: 'Different Dads and 'Can't Work, Won't Work'.
The group, who infamously tried to launch their foul-mouthed jingle 'Boris Johnson is a f*****g c**t' to the top of the UK Christmas Singles chart, have faced fierce criticism over the £10-a-ticket show.
Its most outspoken critics include Dewsbury's Tory MP Mark Eastwood, who helped in the search for missing Shannon in 2008, and local Labour councillor Mussarat Pervaiz who blasted the show's trivialisation as 'disgusting'.
Speaking out today, local councillors described the comedy show as 'bang out of order' and warned it could be triggering for the schoolgirl who has since been given an entirely new identity.
The comedy group have performances throughout August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the world's largest arts festivals which has been held since 1947.
Dark comedy group K*** and the Gang have sold out their four-week run of 'Shannon Matthews: The Musical' (pictured: A poster for the show) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this month
The performance is based on the true story of the faked abduction of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews, who was reported missing in 2008. After a major search, the schoolgirl was found hidden in the base of a bed in a grotty flat just a mile away from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorks. It transpired that her mum Karen Matthews had planned the whole thing with Michael Donovan - her then partner's uncle - in a bid to split £50,000 reward money.
The bed that Shannon was hidden in inside Donovan's squalid flat. A policeman had tears in his eyes for a new documentary where he described finding her
Nine-year-old Shannon was kidnapped by Matthews and Donovan, who planned to generate money from the publicity in 2008.
They had planned for Donovan to release Shannon at Dewsbury Market, 'discover her', and then take her to a police station and claim a £50,000 reward.
After a major search, the schoolgirl was found hidden in the base of a bed in a grotty flat just a mile away from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorks.
It transpired that her mother Karen Matthews had planned the whole thing with Michael Donovan - her then-partner's uncle - in a bid to split £50,000 reward money.
K*** and the Gang have taken to social media to thank people for coming to see the show, and have posted some of the five-star reviews they have received.
