Reviewed by James Karas
This House is a riveting
political extravaganza that was shown in movie theaters directly from the
Olivier stage of the National Theatre, London. It is about the backroom
political warfare of the Conservative and Labour Parties of Great Britain
between 1974 and 1979 when Labour fought to survive as a minority government.
The large stage of the Olivier is
turned into the House of Commons at Westminster with people from the audience
seated on each side of the stage as if they were Members of Parliament. Most of
the action however takes place in offices, corridors, the inside of Big Ben and
the basement.
Playwright James Graham is not
interested in the Prime Ministers or the Leaders of the Opposition Parties of
the day. Harold Wilson and later James Callaghan were Prime Ministers during
the period and Margaret Thatcher became Conservative Party leader but none of
them is mentioned directly.
Graham focuses on the Labour and
Conservative “whips”, the party disciplinarians who make sure that their
members are in the house when necessary and maintain party loyalty. In a
minority government, they woo members of other parties with persuasion,
promises, coaxing and whatever other means they can conceive and perpetrate in
support of purely political ambitions.
The play moves with ferocious
speed at times, has some Wildean wit, considerable drama and comedy, and a
satisfactory ending. The bickering, backstabbing and enormous efforts by the Parties
to outwit each other, with Labour desperately trying to stay in power and the
Conservatives just as desperately trying to defeat them can be quite
depressing. Labour realizes that is unable to pass any legislation and the
country is paralyzed. What is their achievement? Keeping the Conservatives out
is the answer.
There is treachery, stupidity,
selfishness, arrogance and complete disregard of the national interest. However,
there is also some humanity and Graham does find an act of principled nobility
at the end of the play.
The action shifts from the House,
to offices, to other locations with lightning rapidity and director Jeremy
Herrin reaches frenetic speeds but also slows down for mellow moments.
The action is propelled by the
eight whips (five for Labour and three for the Conservatives) who pursue their
own members and MPs from the marginal parties. Vincent Franklin is in overdrive
as the Labour whip Michael Cocks with Phil Daniels as the less frenetic whip Bob
Mellish . Lauren O’Neil as the new and attractive Labour whip who shows class
and sense and humanity.
Julian Wadham, Charles Edwards
and Ed Hughes as the Conservative whips, represent men from a different class
who are no less conniving than their Labour counterparts. The whole play was
acted superbly.
My only complaint is that the
play is relentlessly political and has a constant theme of getting one vote
more than the other side. There is large number of MPs introduced by the name of
their riding and that causes some confusion in people who do not know the
political map of Great Britain.
There is a somewhat limited
“human side” with the dying MP who is brought in to vote, the nursing mother
and the Scottish, Irish and Welsh members who are colourful and make democracy
look bad. Mind you, almost all of them make democracy look bad.
The audience in the movie house
did not get the full effect of the efficient movement from one venue to the
other on the stage. At the back of the stage was the interior of Big Ben but the
close-ups made us lose the full effect of that and of the
House of Commons.
Margaret Thatcher became Prime
Minister in 1979 and she took over with an iron grip setting aside all the
unseemly squabbles. She has left a controversial legacy with many people
refusing to forgive her for some of her policies. At the end of this play, her
election comes as a relief.
_____
This House by James Graham was shown at the AMC Yonge and
Dundas Theatre, 10 Dundas St. East, Toronto Ontario and other theatres on May
16, 2013. For more information visit http://www.cineplex.com/events/
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