Writer/Director: Stephen M Hornby
Reviewer: Jim Gillespie
Inkbrew Productions latest venture is deliberately bold and controversial. Tackling the labyrinthine torments of the political history of the past half century through the prism of two diametrically opposed political parties, and the outlaw standpoint of marginalised minorities sets the stage for conflict and confrontation. Slightly less obviously, the resulting drama yields humour, pathos, and enlightenment as Stephen Hornby’s intelligent re-telling of recent history unfolds the darker side of politics, both personal and public.
The play is essentially a two-hander, supported by one additional actor. In the first half of the play, Charlie and Anthony are Tories, from different sides of the tracks, accidentally sharing a hotel room in 1975, and then developing an on-off relationship as their career trajectories divide, until they go their separate ways in the mid-80’s. In the play’s second half, blue braces are traded for red as Charlie and Anthony make the same journey but as Labour apparatchiks, playing Machiavellian games for the leadership and control of the party. In both cases, they also try to deal with their own personal relationships and the issues that arise with being homosexual in a society undergoing enormous attitudinal and legal changes.
The scale is ambitious, in terms of history and political sweep. But it also tries to see the tide of social and political history from the personal standpoint of the two protagonists. Sometimes, the personal impact of legal or social change, seen through their eyes, works very well. Elsewhere it seems heavy-handedly bolted onto the political framework, which provides the over-arching narrative. At its most touching, the characters confront the strains of their personal relationships, such as those which come with the surge in HIV; more clumsily, there are references to other partners under new freedoms, without these ever troubling the main drama.
Joel Parry and Dean Gregory give terrific performances as the chalk and cheese lovers: one a toff, the other a rough diamond – irrespective of party. The attraction of opposites is nothing new, and Stephen Hornby makes the most of the social contrasts to create sparks between his characters. The dialogue is crisp and brittle, interspersed with occasional tenderness. That there are also political eddies only adds depth to the fabric of their relationship. The introduction of Ethan Martin in the second half of the play added little to any of this landscape, although he dispatched his role as the perfunctory Hugo with aplomb.
Music had a role as an entreacte diversion or commentary on the emotional journey under way. Andrew Lloyd-Weber and The Pet Shop Boys provided the backing track to the story, and the mimed performances gave an additional dimension, or provided comic relief.
Stephen Hornby has shovelled a lot of ground here. His grasp of the political nuances of the last 40 years is exemplary, and he has incorporated – verbatim – some of the best political speeches of the period to provide the warp and weft for his drama. Sadly, it was sometimes unclear which era and which party were responsible for which speeches. Or does that tell us something about the nature of politics? Stephen takes credit either way.
This was a script-in-hand performance in a studio venue in the back streets of Salford. But that does not detract from the quality of the basic product on offer. A fine script and some excellent performances are the bedrock of good theatre.
Runs until 9 September 2017 | Image: contributed
