THATCHER THE MUSICAL! To 10 March.
Ipswich
THATCHER THE MUSICAL!
by Foursight Theatre
Tour to 10 March 2007
Runs 2hr 20min One interval
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 March at New Wolsey Theatre
A sometimes woolly look at the Iron Lady.
This must be every Right-winger’s dream, every Socialist’s nightmare: not one Maggie Thatcher, but nine. Yet the central conundrum remains. For decent left-inclined feminists Maggie was a Tory and so BAD. She was also the first woman to reach 10 Downing Street, which was GOOD.
Entering from a giant handbag (the prop is Lady Bracknell’s exclusive property no longer), Maggie the Narrator sees off deviants in the audience ( the ‘not-one-of-us’s) before recounting her political life, each stage enacted by a different company member under a variant of the same wig – a hairpiece to put a long-dead pharaoh in the shade.
There’s good fun with audience-baiting later on, while the first act climaxes at the Falklands, Maggie pointing out “you loved it” of her Gotcha-toned triumphalism. At the end, the same point’s extended: we are all Thatcherites now, however unconsciously.
This is important; it’s a shame more’s not made of it. Stylistically, the show harks back less to Maggie’s halcyon eighties than to the previous decade’s political theatre, such as David Edgar’s General Will or John McGrath’s 7:84. Some scenes successfully encapsulate an idea in an image: Britain voyages towards the Falklands as a literal ship-of-state, dodging crises, putting off piratical Captain Scargill till later.
But as historical cartoon-strip the show lacks pace and point, its songs lacking the pithiness of the best political numbers. Going for the jugular is compromised by hitting easy targets. Maggie seeing off Ted Heath in the 1975 leadership contest works as a boxing-match with handbag, but the blows aren’t related to specific events.
Returning to a similar format as Maggie wrestles with Miners’ leader Arthur Scargill shows even more the failure to make specific political points (contrast General Will’s attack on Heath’s unemployment record as a high-jumping Dole Beast allowed, to reach a million, to use the Northern Ireland figures. That’s precise satire.).
Thatcher was, and remains, divisive. She reigned over Britain’s most male bastion, qualified in three careers and shook off Britain’s resigned despair by willingly sacrificing anyone who lacked wealth or initiative. This piece presents some of the story, but explains little.
Young Maggie: Julie Baker
Military Maggie: Alison Belbin
Britannia Maggie: Kath Burlinson
Crawfie: Duncan Chave
Diva Maggie: Naomi Cooke
Betrayed Maggie: Lisa Harrison
Elderly Maggie: Frances Land
Power Suit Maggie: Toni Midlane
Narrator Maggie: Sarah Thom
Twin Set Maggiwe: Lucy Tuck
Directors: Naomi Cooke, Deb Barnard
Designer: Purvin
Lighting: Jonathan Tritton
Sound:Duncan Chave
Songs: Jill Dowse
Musical Arranger/Musical Director: Mary Keith
Choreographers: Sue Hall, Chris Day
Costume: Purvin, Sue Hall
Dramaturg: Kate Hale
2007-03-12 10:25:56