IN chapter 26 of the King James version of the Bible you will find the line: “No man can serve two masters.” This world premiere of Michael McManus’ new politically-based play is inclined to ignore the truth of those words and rather falls between two stools. Of course, you can mix drama with comedy and with the knowledge gained from his years in charge of Edward Heath’s private office, and at Conservative Central Office during the time of John Major and Maggie Thatcher, he can and does bring first hand backstage political knowledge to his writing.

Party Games is the story of a fringe political party suddenly thrust into power, as a minority government, after a snap General Election – could it occur after 4th July?

Among the characters we are introduced to, there are echoes of all those former Prime Ministers, plus the faithful Willie Whitelaw, spin doctor Alastair Campbell, the bitterly rejected Dominic Cummings, ambitious Liz Truss and Scottish Nationalists, as well as moments when fictional characters like Nigel Hawthorne’s Sir Humphrey from Yes Minister appear.

Matthew Cottle’s incoming PM, John Waggner, is a lovely mixture of Edward Heath’s “I’d rather be on my yacht Morning Cloud, or conducting a symphony orchestra than carrying out the business of government at 10 Downing Street”, and the woolly indecisiveness of John Major. And around him instead of the open honesty we would have expected from fresh whiter than white do-gooder politicians, there is an outpouring of raw ambition and greed from some of the new centralist party, One Nation.

His deputy Lisa, played by Debra Stephenson, definitely has her eyes fixed on the top job. Ryan Early’s speech writer, spin doctor and advisor Seth is quite willing to bend any rule to breaking point if it helps One Nation to retain power – with him as the guiding hand behind the throne. He even installs an Alexa-type machine in No 10, voiced by Debra Stephenson, programmed to advance his views.

But the apparently soft-centred Waggner proves to be not quite the pushover he first appears to be, and with the help of a faithful wife, Anne, played by Natalie Dunne, long-standing supporter and advisor Luke, played by Shaun Chambers, a beautifully judged performance, one moment a strong advisor, the next a fence-sitting civil servant, and chameleon actor William Oxborrow taking responsibility for all the other roles, the power-hungry Seth is bested.

So out to greet the cheering crowd in Downing Street goes PM John Waggner and his merry band of fellow travellers, but are they the lily-white boys full of unselfish policies for the public good, or have they been corrupted by power?

Written by an author with insider knowledge of the subject, this play has an ominous ring of truth about the plot and the characters. If that delicate blend of cynical irony, which brings with it a distinctive style of comedy, had been more in evidence, rather than almost separate moments of realistic drama and comedy, this absorbing, well-staged play, directed by Joanna Read, would have risen to an even higher level.

GRP

Photographs by Craig Fuller