Writer: James Graham
Director: Simona Hughes
Wringing a compelling story out of the internal wrangling and strife involved in the Labour Party’s cultural and social transition in the 90’s would have been seen as something with the fiendish, defeating complexity of the proverbial Gordian Knot until James Graham popped up with this play in 2017. Like Alexander the Great before him, however, Graham takes the direct route, marrying the political story with a will-they-won’t-they romantic drama spread across nearly three decades. He sneaks in his well-balanced and insightful analysis of the shift from Old to New Labour, and what it means to the party faithful (on both sides) at a personal, local and national level.
A lengthy play, it reels in the years starting from general election night in 2017 with MP David Lyons (Liam Stewart in a fantastic first performance for Tower Theatre) about to lose the seat he’s held for 27 years, then flipping back through previous events and election nights to his first win in 1990. The second half sends us forward again, finishing off the individual stories of those nights, bringing us back to 2017 and delivering a very satisfying personal conclusion (while the political state of the characters remains as tumultuous as ever). David’s tension-filled and gripping relationship with his agent Jean (played superbly by Helen McGill) is the real focus, and between them Stewart and McGill deliver a super joint performance – intimate, charismatic and totally believable as the colleagues thrown together but quickly co-dependent.
With any of Graham’s plays, there’s a lot of talking. Mostly here about politics. It’s a good education on the battle for the soul of Labour, with the older ideologically committed voices well represented and the newer realpolitik-style group given a similarly fair hearing. Critical but not dismissive or partisan, there’s not so much a conclusion suggested by the piece, more fuel for the audience to consider their own opinions and positions more closely. A few sharp turns of phrase will linger on as we consider how little really has changed. A description, for example, of Tory Party internal politics being “posh squirrels fighting in a bag” seems to be an insight that will stand the test of time.
With all this to chew on, it’s a good job Graham writes dialogue so well. Thanks to this, the discussions in the play mostly slip by without a snag. A peppy cast and engaging direction from Simona Hughes make it feels lighter than it really is, apart from certain points in the 1990s at the end of the first half where the energy really dips.
Set in the same shabby constituency office for the whole time (designed by Phillip Ley), minor changes like Christmas decorations and old Labour paraphernalia come in and out to mark the changing of the years. And well-constructed video montages from Harry Tomlin spool time backwards and forwards, reminding us of the context in which all the play’s action takes place.
While Graham’s writing is what makes the play strong and a history of the Labour Party palatable, the vital ingredient is the strength Steward and McGill bring to the performances alongside Hughes’s direction. Supported well by a handful of other actors, it is a dense story well told.
Runs until 15 July 2023
