We’ve just come back from watching actor and playwright Simon Woods’ Hansard at the National Theatre, which is directed by 41-year old, Washington, D.C.-based, Cambridge graduate Simon Godwin. Woods’ debut as a playwright had its premiere on this stage two months ago and is only showing until 25th November, with all except tomorrow’s show sold out. 39-year old Old Etonian Woods is clearly not lacking good connections to get his first attempt featured on the nation’s most prestigious stage.
PLAYWRIGHT SIMON WOODS
While reading English at Magdalen College, Oxford, in the early Noughties, he was in a relationship with Rosamund Pike for two years. A few years later the two would play lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice. For the past ten years, Woods has been in a relationship with Christopher Bailey CBE, aged 48, the chief executive of Burberry, the British fashion empire.
HANSARD DEBATES
We would normally not have booked tickets to see this play. However, when Ellie got her hands on two tickets for £15 each, we changed our minds on short notice. Hansard is the name of the official transcription of all parliamentary debates at Westminster Palace. It was named after Thomas Hansard, an English printer whose company originally printed the reports. I can only presume that the term is used here to refer to the protagonists’ debates at their residence.
All photos, including feature photo (c) National Theatre
THE SETTING
The play is set on a Saturday morning in the summer of 1988, towards the end of the Thatcher years. We hear that the Local Government Act 1988 with its Section 28, banning local authorities from the promotion of homosexuality, has just been passed in parliament. (It would not be repealed until 2003.) The setting is a lovely country mansion “just outside Burford” in the Cotswolds. It is the home of grey-haired Tory cabinet member Robin Hesketh (Alex Jennings) and his deadly bored, alcoholic, leftie, stay-home wife of 30 years, Diana (Lindsay Duncan CBE). In the first scene Robin arrives back from Leeds. He is pleased with himself, because he feels that he has done well on a TV debate the night before, which had been the reason for his visit to the north. Usually he stays in London during the week.
THE LEFTIE WIFE
His wife immediately starts trying to pick a fight with him at all costs, despite his efforts to appease her. She bangs on and on about how Tory politics are heartless (they are, obviously), how Tories manage to make people forget that an expensive education has absolutely nothing to do with an understanding of the world and its workings (they do, and it clearly doesn’t), and how the Tories’ stance on homosexuality in the 1980s was outdated (quite so).
THE INSATIABLE DESIRE OF THE PEOPLE TO BE F**KED BY AN OLD ETONIAN
The varying dialogues and monologues are entertaining, lively, sometimes witty, eloquent, and the audience regularly bursts out into laughter. The best parts are where it gets vulgar (“The insatiable desire of the people of this country to be f**ked by an Old Etonian.”), and where it is ironically self-referential or referring to the audience (“it just goes on forever and there is no intermission”, or, staring at the audience “Look, they’re just awful!”). Equally, where it points out the similarities between today and back then (something along the lines “we can do whatever we like, we’ll always win if the Labour party nominates those dreadful geography teachers”). Or where it gets emotional. There are some bits towards the end where 90% of the audience have dry throats and wet eyes.
SUPERB ACTING, FORGETTABLE PLAY
The acting by Olivier Award winners Alex Jennings and Lindsay Duncan is absolutely world-class, riveting, and, to be frank, it is the only thing that makes this play watchable. Unfortunately, the play itself mostly lacks structure, plot, development of characters, connecting lines, ideas, surprise, and most everything else. It is not a noteworthy play and let’s hope it will soon be forgotten.
THIRD-RATE HOMAGE TO ALBEE’S ‘WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF’
If it weren’t for the brilliant acting, this would be a 1.5 out of 5. Because of these thespians’ thorough theatrical thunder this third-rate homage to Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is going to be a 3 out of 5 for us.
Looking for more theatre reviews? Check out our posts about The Lehman Trilogy, The Other Place, After Antigone, and Exit The King (all at the National Theatre), Obsession at the Barbican, or White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, at Soho Place. For travel inspiration, feel welcome to eyeball our posts about the Jurassic Coast, Dubai, and Hever Castle. For restaurant reviews you might want to have a look at our articles about Ekeberg, Oslo, Tapabento Trindade, Porto, Solar 31 da Calcada, Lisbon, and Imlauer Sky Bar & Restaurant, Salzburg.
4 Comments
1988 is the year anti-gay legislation, clause 28 was introduced by the Tory Government, which is the context of the play.
I guess you do have a point there, Kate, thank you. I’ve now amended my review. The reason why I had not initially directly referenced Section 28 was because it (like everything else in this play) did not seem relevant. Also, none of the other reviews I read of this play mention Section 28, presumably for the same reason. 🙂