Controversial Spa Centre show gets mixed reviews

As someone born and brought up in Blackpool but now residing in Warwick, I was appalled to read the views of Warwick district councillor Roger Copping on Blackpool in the Courier last Friday.

I take great offence at the inference that Blackpool is in some way inferior and therefore suitable for lower grade entertainment than Leamington Spa - Royal prefix or not. This is clearly snobbery of the highest order and I would ask that either Cllr Copping is hauled before some sort of Warwick District Council committee and asked to explain himself or that an official and public apology is made to Blackpool Council and residents for besmirching the town’s reputation in the press.

Having been to theatres in both towns I can say that many of the shows presented are the same and both have excellent cultural facilities - the Spa Centre of late being much improved from the dirge it was presenting a few years ago, a fact that Cllr Copping also seems oblivious to - which is very odd given that he is a councillor for the authority which operates it.

I have no wish to see this particular show either, so I will simply not buy a ticket. I suggest Cllr Copping does the same, leaves the running of theatres to people who know about it and thinks a little more about whether or not his comments will cause offence before he opens his mouth in future.

I trust that the appropriate action will be taken by your good selves in this matter. - Gary King, via email.

This show has been a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Festival since I started taking my own theatre shows up there years ago and I have often wished I could attract such huge, sell-out audiences to the theatre shows that I take up there.

However, I have always accepted that my shows are for people who want to sit, listen to, watch and enjoy dynamic theatre stories unravelling whereas Puppetry of the Penis is aimed at a late night audience who just want some outrageous entertainment and a good laugh - often as part of a group outing (eg hen nights). What is wrong with that? Puppetry sells-out because it’s very popular. You don’t have to think or worry about mortgages, jobs and interest rates and it provides an opportunity for a group of people (usually women) to go out together and laugh out loudly, confidently and safely at a live event and to come out saying: “That was great fun! I’d love to see it again!”

It’s not the sort of theatre I do but I accept many people will also enjoy shows like Puppetry of the Penis and if it helps encourage some people to see that the Spa Centre is now a great place to see a show then everyone wins.

I would suggest to this Lib Dem councillor that he would serve his constituents better by advising his party to revise their equally out-of-touch, dogmatic stance on the European Union and the Human Rights Act. - Roy Donoghue, via email.

Yes we are VERY offended by the Spa Centre staging the show Puppetry of the Penis.

This is clearly very obscene and unacceptable for public viewing – it degrades both those taking part and those watching and we hope this will be the last and only one of this kind of ‘entertainment’ shown in Leamington.

Ratepayers’ money should not be spent in this way and we are grateful to those councillors who have complained to Mr Flint, the Spa Centre manager.

It shows a complete lack of judgment on his part. - G Melville, Snowford Hill, Long Itchington.

I feel very disappointed with Cllr Roger Copping’s remarks with regards to David Friend and Simon Moreley’s “Puppetry of the Penis 3D”.

I find his excuses for not staging the show inadequate, I feel certain that he is acting purely under the pressure of his half dozen or so constituents, who are hell bent on trying to prevent this event from being a great success.

It is no secret that the Spa Centre has had it’s financial problems over the last few years and I firmly believe manager Anthony Flint has done the right thing by staging this diverse, fresh, and ridiculously funny show which has broken box office records all over the world and I am certain it will have placed much needed bums on seats.

The show does contain full frontal nudity and this fact has never been denied. The simple message to Cllr Copping, or anyone else who would be offended is to stay away. If, however you are more broadminded and in need of a damn good laugh on a Wednesday evening you will have taken yourselves down to the Royal Spa Centre and formed your own opinion. (You can always make your views known to the Courier after the event). - Mick Spall, Bury Road, Leamington.

District councillor Roger Copping is making himself look very foolish indeed by making such a fuss about the hit show Puppetry of the Penis coming to Leamington.

This legendary show has toured the world for over ten years, including sell-out seasons in New York and London’s West End, and (as Spa Centre manager Anthony Flint points out) has been garlanded with awards and critical acclaim.

Yes, it features full frontal nudity; but it’s about as obscene as a saucy seaside postcard - and much funnier.

If it’s not to the liking of Cllr Copping and half a dozen of his constituents, may I ask who is forcing them to go and see it?

As it happens I, too, am offended by some of what goes on at the Spa Centre - like the charlatans who fleece vulnerable people’s wallets in so-called “psychic” shows - but unlike Cllr Copping I understand that not everyone shares my tastes in entertainment. And unlike Cllr Copping I’m not being paid allowances and expenses out of taxpayers’ money in order to complain about things I don’t like. - Phil Reynolds, Woodbine Street, Leamington.

I refer to the picture on page 7 of last week’s Courier.

If this kind of show ‘appeals to a wide range of people’ then I’m afraid that I begin to despair of our modern society!

I would be extremely embarrassed to watch any show of this type; and I would certainly never dream of asking any lady to view it with me. Let it go to Blackpool, by all means! - Mr I.W.D.Peterson, Regent Street, Leamington.