Prompt Corner
Issue 10, 2010
The term “political theatre” may never again be understood in quite the same way in Britain. By a calendrical quirk, the two-week period covered by this issue ended on Britain’s election day. You can read coverage within of the mischievous one-night-only show put on at the Traverse to mark what they were gambling would probably be Gordon Brown’s last day as Prime Minister. Little did they know...
Addressed
The political moment had been fairly directly addressed by a number of productions in recent weeks. There was Stiffed, the satire on the scandal of MPs’ expenses claims; Posh, fingering a culture of patrician entitlement once more on the ascendancy within the Conservative Party; A Day At The Racists and Pressure Drop, examining the appeal of the far-right British National Party in some areas. Indeed, a number of those involved in the latter production spent some time actively canvassing against the BNP in the constituency where they were feared to be strongest; in the event, the BNP not only suffered a decline in its share of the parliamentary vote there, but lost every one of its 12 seats on the local council.
Then there was Counted?, about declining voting figures and a growing feeling of disfranchisement (but which came first?); and, most audaciously – and to be covered next issue – Election Drama, in which a number of playwrights were asked to compose short pieces within hours of the polls closing on Thursday evening, which were then rehearsed just as quickly for a one-off performance on Saturday night. Again, little did they know that the drama would occur neither in the voting patterns nor in the results unfolding through the night (television coverage of this election was both dull and desperate, as teams of commentators struggled in vain to discern a narrative that hey could then comment on), but in the negotiations between parties that would occupy the several days following. Or would it?
Suspense
If this was political theatre, then it was theatre of a distinctly post-dramatic flavour. Britain, being unused to the kind of coalition government and parliamentary negotiations which are so common and un-sensational in many other countries, attempted to find something immensely significant and indicative of a new epoch in what was in fact simply days of politicians discussing politics with other politicians. Oh, the suspense!
How would the country’s un-codified constitution cope with such an unprecedented situation? Answer: much the same way it coped last time, for there had in fact been a precedent as recently as the 1970s. What would the Liberal Democrats do? Answer, equally unsurprisingly: they would talk to each of the larger parties, and take the deal that seemed better to them. Was this not consistently compelling drama? Answer: no, it was not. After a couple of days spent largely out of touch with the rolling new agenda due to travelling, I emerged from a show on Tuesday evening to the news that they had, as it were, finally found a government down the back of the sofa.
Fascination
Yet still the pretence at fascination, or the determination to attempt to be fascinated, persists. Future issues of TR are scheduled to contain coverage of Swing, billed as the first full-length theatrical response to the election; Hung Over, a collection of election-inspired shorts as part of the Royal Court’s Rough Cuts season; and the opening of Yes, Prime Minister, a television comedy series dating from the 1980s high-water-mark of Thatcherism when there were clearly fundamental ideological chasms between the major parties, and now adapted for the stage in an era when not only ideology but packaging are all but indistinguishable between one party and another.
Yes, the narrowest result of the election was in the seat being defended by Oscar-winner Glenda Jackson. Yes, we now have a Deputy Prime Minister who professes an admiration for Samuel Beckett and once snogged another man on a student stage. Yes, Gordon Brown’s eventual speech of resignation as Prime Minister was moderately dignified... but’s let not make any absurd claims, as a number of pundits did, that his departure was positively Shakespearean in register.
Stultifying
For the truth is that not even at such an unusual moment in our politics could we summon up any drama worthy of the name. There is no tension around the issues, no narrative thrust in any party or any conflict, and there is certainly no charismatic performer on the Westminster stage. The strength of British theatre in recent years may owe more than a little to a reasonable political climate in terms of funding; it owes nothing whatever to the stultifying climate in terms of mainstream political thought and discourse. What we must try to continue to excel at is theatrical theatre.
Ian Shuttleworth | ian@theatrerecord.com
Reviewed in issue 10, 2010
London
| Production | Venue | Opened | Closed | Page |
| BEAK STREET New play by Greg Freeman | Tabard | 13 May | 29 May | 540 |
| BOOM BANG-A-BANG Revival of play by Jonathan Harvey (About Turn TC) | Etcetera | 11 May | 23 May | 522 |
| CANARY New play by Jonathan Harvey (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse / English Touring Th) | Hampstead | 19 May | 12 Jun | 541 |
| CHILDREN OF DARKNESS New play by Eric Richard | Leicester Square | 12 May | 29 May | 522 |
| COUNTING THE WAYS Revival of play by Edward Albee | Oval House | 12 May | 15 May | 531 |
| DITCH New play by Beth Steel | Old Vic Tunnels | 19 May | 26 Jun | 543 |
| ELECTION DRAMA Five new plays by various writers (Supporting Wall) | New Players | 8 May | 8 May | 540 |
| THE FABULOUS FLUTTERBYS New musical by Barb Jungr | Little Angel | 8 May | 3 Jul | 527 |
| FOREIGN AFFAIR Return of play by Andre Bacelar | Above The Stag | 13 May | 30 May | 539 |
| HIPPOLYTUS Revival of play by Euripides in new version by David Crook (Tough Th) | White Bear | 20 May | 13 Jun | 522 |
| IRAM New play based on stories by Sholem Aleichem (Herlizya Ensemble) | The Pit | 19 May | 29 May | 546 |
| AN ISRAELI LOVE STORY New play by Pnina Gary | New End | 20 May | 6 Jun | 538 |
| LOVE THE SINNER New play by Drew Pautz (NT) | Cottesloe | 11 May | 523 | |
| MADAGASCAR New play by J T Rogers | Theatre 503 | 13 May | 5 Jun | 542 |
| MOTHER/SON New piece by Jeffrey Solomon | Oval House | 13 May | 29 May | 538 |
| NAUGHTY! Double-bill of contemporary dance and theatre | Blue Elephant | 14 May | 29 May | 538 |
| PETER PAN Revival of play by JM Barrie in new version by David Greig (NTS) | Barbican | 13 May | 29 May | 532 |
| Roundhouse CircusFest See review pages for full production details | Roundhouse | 7 Apr | 16 May | 520 |
| TALES OF THE COUNTRY New adaptation by Nick Warburton from book by Brian Viner | Pleasance | 11 May | 16 May | 537 |
| THE TEMPEST Revival of play by Shakespeare | Unicorn SE1 | 20 May | 19 Jun | 539 |
| THIS STORY OF YOURS Revival of play by John Hopkins | Old Red Lion | 18 May | 5 Jun | 540 |
| A THOUSAND STARS EXPLODE IN THE SKY New play by David Eldridge / Robert Holman / Simon Stephens | Lyric Hammersmith | 12 May | 29 May | 528 |
| VINCENT RIVER Revival of play by Philip Ridley | Landor | 20 May | 5 Jun | 539 |
Regions |
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| ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Revival of play by Shakespeare | Southampton, Nuffield | 11 May | 22 May | 553 |
| ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Revival of play by Shakespeare (RSC) | Stratford-upon-Avon, Courtyard | 10 May | 28 Aug | 547 |
| BROKEN HEARTED New play by Lucy Gannon (Derby Live) | Derby Playhouse | 11 May | 29 May | 554 |
| CATCHER New play by Richard Hurford (Pilot Th) | York, Theatre Royal | 13 May | 6 Jun | 559 |
| THE DEVIL INSIDE HIM Revival of play by John Osborne (National Th of Wales) | Cardiff, New | 11 May | 15 May | 553 |
| Imaginate festival See review pages for full production details | various | 10 May | 16 May | 567 |
| Mayfesto See review pages for full production details | Glasgow, Tron | 7 May | 22 May | 563 |
| NOISES OFF Revival of play by Michael Frayn | Birmingham Rep | 18 May | 5 Jun | 560 |
| ONE MILLION PLAYS ABOUT BRITAIN New play by Craig Taylor, adapted by Ros Philips | Glasgow, Citizens | 20 May | 5 Jun | 562 |
| PYGMALION Revival of play by George Bernard Shaw | Manchester, Royal Exchange | 17 May | 19 Jun | 558 |
| SALOME Revival of play by Oscar Wilde, adapted by Jamie Lloyd (Headlong) | Leicester, Curve / touring | 12 May | 15 May | 557 |
| TRUE WEST Revival of play by Sam Shepard | Sheffield, Crucible | 18 May | 5 Jun | 560 |
| YES, PRIME MINISTER New play by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, based on their TV series | Chichester Festival | 20 May | 5 Jun | 550 |
