Fed up with the referendum? Let’s go back to the Seventies
PlAYWRiGHT James Graham has seen the ongoing political warfare between rival parties before.
His hit 2012 play This House, directed by Jeremy Herrin, dealt with the wheeling and dealing that went on in the House of Commons between 1974-79, with labour desperately trying to hold onto to its wafer-thin majority.
‘in a slightly unsettling way, i feel that we’re back living in an age of no consensus,’ he said, noting that This House is set at a time when the post-war harmony between the main parties was starting to break down.
He added: ‘it’s no coincidence that the biggest event in the Seventies that led to a breakdown of our political systems was the European referendum — and talk of Scottish independence — and the country is having that identity crisis again.’
This House extended its original run at the national Theatre several times and it’s great that many cast members from that production will be in the revival at Chichester Festival Theatre from September 23. Producers nica Burns and Caro newling will move the play into the Garrick from november 19.
Returning cast members include Phil Daniels as Bob Mellish and lauren o’neil as Ann Taylor. new members in the House include nathaniel Parker as Jack Weatherill, Kevin Doyle as Michael Cocks, Steffan Rhodri as Walter Harrison and Malcolm Sinclair as Humphrey Atkins.