This was a bit unfortunate for us, as we were there for a preview and Phil Daniels had just been forced to pull out of the leading role, so we saw the understudy (Andrew Frame I think, although we might have had a temporary understudy our night) reading from the script.
Even so, I don’t think this was really our type of play.
The Cottesloe had been laid out like the House of Commons, with the audience on both sides forming the back benches.
The play is basically about the chaotic era of the hung parliament in the mid-to-late 1970s; not least the scheming of the whips to try to get some semblance of business done in trying times.
At the time of writing (March 2018) this seems like a hark back to halcyon days, but in 2012 I think we were supposed to be thinking, “thank goodness our 2012 coalition is so much saner and more stable – politics is just more mature now, isn’t it?”
Below is the trailer:
There were some amusing lines, but it was all a bit obvious and of course, as the case with all dramatisation of historical events, there was no suspense for us in the “what happens next” department because we lived through it all as youngsters.
As a play, it all felt a bit “tell” rather than “show”.
I have a lot of time for John Graham as a playwright but this one didn’t really do the business for us and I don’t think it was just the unfortunate understudy business – we’ve seen enough theatre to be able to adjust and allow for that.
We saw Beth (from downstairs) and her dad across the political divide; I discovered afterwards that they got more out of it than we did…
…as did most of the critics, who hailed the piece and the production – click here for a link to the reviews – so don’t listen to us.
