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Review: Yes Prime Minister

Yes Prime MinisterYes Prime Minister at Chichester Festival Theatre, January 2012

As someone who loved and adored the political television hit of the 80s “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister” consecutively, the prospect of a new and updated version was met with cautious trepidation. Thankfully the writers reunited for this anniversary project and so the same vein of satire and wit is richly entangled throughout the piece.

The characters of Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Wooley are woven into the new fabric of our current political system with subtle nods to new settings. The play is set at Chequers in a period of a coalition government, and the tools of the day are still the stalwart red boxes but are now intermingled with the modern touches of Blackberries and rolling news channels.

The storyline dips between the farcical, the shocking and the reality of Whitehall with alarming ease and the interweaving of the three is seamlessly revisited consistently. There were audible gasps in the audience when the crux of the play was revealed and the moral dilemma was presented for internal discussion between the viewer and the conscience. The play’s synopsis focuses on the morality, logistics and availability of finding an underage call-girl for a visitor of high importance and whether “lying back and thinking of Europe” justifies behaviour that would generally be considered unsightly and beyond reprehension in our political system, let alone in our households.

The character of Jim Hacker is played by Graham Seed, of Archers fame. He mirrored the confusion felt by the audience and undoubtedly the PM as his counterpart in the production Sir Humphrey was strongly portrayed by Michael Simkins.

As a man used to radio, Graham perhaps over compensated for the stage and compromised the performance somewhat with a tendency to ensure that he was heard throughout, but as a character kept momentum and substance at the fore. A companion suggested that small microphones attached to the lapel would have worked wonders and I couldn’t help but concur.

Michael Simkins was in danger of outshining every actor to grace the stage regardless; turning a confident and assured performance worthy of Sir Humphrey’s television presence yet markedly his own. The smarm, the swagger and the aplomb were all present and correct and made for a fine piece of theatrical representation.

The only point that struck a minor flicker of awareness was the lack of the obvious in the current political spectrum: for a character named Jim Hacker, in the midst of the Leveson Inquiry, the expenses scandal and the News International Storm there was a glaring absence of any mention or quiet nod to the outside world in that respect. The actions of the real Whitehall possibly overshadow the imagination of the parallel creation, but some intermingling may have made for a touch of reality popping up. Satire is often as its best when the lines are blurred to the maximum.

Overall though the performances were realistic; the speeches great and the direction slick. A wonderful theatre, a professional play and a great night out. Recommended for any fan of the show (they haven’t ruined it: spoiler alert) and for those who welcome some comedy that requires some grey matter to be activated.

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Reviewed by: catherinejackson