Production: This House
Theatre: Birmingham Repertory Theatre @therepbirmingham
This House is set in Westminster from the general election in February 1974, to the 1979 vote of no confidence in the government of James Callaghan. The show is a fictional account, inspired and based around the turbulent period in British Politics of the precarious Labour Government, as seen through the Labour and Conservative Whips Offices.
Nick Clegg has written a two page piece in the programme (worth purchasing) which states “By locating the drama in the bowels of the political engine room – the Government and Opposition Whips’ offices – James Graham succeeds in casting a more penetrating light on how politics actually feels at Westminster than the daily deluge of political commentary in the press”.
And I have to agree. I was a little unsure what I would think of a play lasting 2 hours 55 minutes (including interval) based wholly on politics, and was worried I may get bored. But there was no chance of that. The play was produced and directed incredibly. The audience laughed lots at the jokes and digs at each political party and various constituencies. My favourite being North Walsall John Stonehouse faking his own death via drowning (this portrayal on the stage made me giggle lots) and also the jokes about the constituency of Redditch!
Not only was the stage used, but the main staircases too – bringing the acting near to us.
And if you purchased tickets to sit on the stage, you were able to use the bar used during the performance with the actors, at the interval.
Throughout the play the party leaders do not appear on stage, only the MPs and backbenchers and those other than the whips are referred to by their constituency, not their names. Even Margaret Thatcher is spoken about as only “Finchley” until she gets into office and is then called “The Lady”. Throughout the show, a live rock band gave us snippets of songs of the era, the most stand out one for me being David Bowies “Five Years”.
#smallhousebigtrips #smallhousebigkids #TheRep #theatrereview #theatre #thishouseplay #blogger #brumbloggers
Hey, if you liked this review or maybe were inspired to try this out because of my post, you can always buy me or the kids a drink or a slice of cake on our next big trip! Just hit the button below, if you want to. 🙂
Buy me a coffee