'Sick' Shannon Matthews the Musical film slammed as 'cruel and sadistic' before release

An upcoming musical comedy parodying the shock kidnapping of Shannon Matthews has been branded "cruel and sadistic" by members of the public

Performances of " : The Musical", by dark comedy troupe K*** and the Gang, were sold out for four weeks straight when the play debuted at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. The success has allowed the group to come back with a film of the same name set to premiere on streaming services next month.

The film, "Shannon Matthews: The Musical: The Movie" will debut on November 15 on Prime Video, iTunes and Play, but has already fetched controversy after the shameless singer-songwriters teased a few of the songs. Tracks like "Shannon Ain't Dead (She's under me bed)" and "You're A Paedophile" will play during the feature.

The songs making light of young Shannon's experience have earned swift condemnation from the public and politicians, with one social media user, Janet Ayre, decrying the production as a "sick joke". She wrote: "Why would anyone make a musical about anything so horrendous? Further, why would anyone in their right minds go to see it?"

Ammar Anwar, the Tory councillor for Dewsbury West, the area from where Shannon was kidnapped aged nine in 2008, said the production was "cruel and sadistic". Local Labour councillor Mussarat Pervaiz said the show trivialised the girl's experience, adding it was "disgusting".

Shannon Matthews' disappearance led to a major case in February 2008, with a massive police operation put together to locate the young girl compared to that launched by authorities to locate Madeleine McCann. She was found alive and well that March at a home in Batley Carr belonging to then-39-year-old Michael Donovan, the uncle of Shannon's mother's boyfriend, Craig Meehan.

The two had planned to make money off her disappearance, and were jailed for eight years after it was found that they had planned to present the girl at a police station and claim the reward cash after some time. Donovan died of cancer in hospital in the April of this year.

2008 at a house belonging to 39-year-old Michael Donovan. Donovan was the uncle of Craig Meehan, the boyfriend of the kidnapped girl's mother, Karen Matthews.

But the production has already fetched rave reviews from the general public, with some who have seen the premiere saying it was the "funniest film I have ever seen". Another commenter added the film "really brought the story to life", and that the film was "well acted and well produced".

And one excited fan said: "Can’t wait to stream this. It will be absolutely hilarious." K*** and the Gang has marketed its research as a key selling point for the film, saying they created the production as "a fictional representation based on research from previous media publications".