This House

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Description

This country doesn't need a constitution, never has, never will. We have History as our guide. In tough times, the British do what we have always done. We muddle through. This House is a timely and relevant political comedy, exploring Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament. In the run-up to the General Election pressure mounts as squabbling whips attempt to attract key regional votes. As it becomes clear the results will be closely balanced, the play tracks the formation, perils and consequences of a coalition government, including the compromises, conflicts and power games all in the interest of gaining control of Parliament. With well-paced, witty and waspish dialogue, This House playfully explores the childish digs and chauvinistic attitudes that riddle political life. Award-winning playwright James Graham combines comedy with comment in this portrayal of the strain between the thinking individual, the pressure to toe the part line and the end goal of winning government.

Reviews

It recreates, with startling vividness, the madness of life in the Westminster village during five action-filled years . . . Above all, the play unlocks a whole era. -- Michael Billington * Guardian *
Graham's superb new drama ... it is by turns funny, touching and cliff-hangingly suspenseful ... Graham has researched his play with exemplary thoroughness and there is a thrilling tang of authenticity about the piece. -- Charles Spencer * Telegraph *
The emphasis on compromise and austerity resonates for us now, and Graham approaches the chaos of party politics in a style that is often bitingly funny ... it's a fresh and energetic piece ... packed with clever lines ... displaying a humane and savvy wit that is very much Graham's own. -- Henry Hitchings * Evening Standard *
From facts and memoirs Graham shapes a brilliantly exhausting, funny and moving political epic ... another hit is born ... it will last longer than the years it depicts. -- Libby Purves * The Times *
Graham's astute, funny and hugely enjoyable new play ... there's tremendous fun here, as Graham contrasts the ancient rituals of parliament with the grubby realities of party politics. -- Sarah Hemming * Financial Times *
Graham's wonderfully lively new play ... [an] incisive, witty, fictionalised account ... a powerful half-satiric, half-sympathetic portrait of a government driven to all lands of stitch-ups and compromises. -- Paul Taylor * Independent *
Graham's breakout play doubles as a drama about the British way of politics and a masterful lampooning of our parliamentary system ... the script nails the satin and bellicose tones of politicians and a culture stiff with sexism and class-consciousness, but it's not just caricatural, or out to show us elected officials running the gamut of incompetence. -- Maxie Szalwinska * The Sunday Times *
Graham's quick, informative and amusing play about parliamentary whips -- Susannah Clapp * Observer *
A gripping and fluidly staged account of the sink-or-swim daily life in a minority government. * The Times *
Ferociously witty and permeated by a deep sense of the tragic-comic nature of all political systems. * Telegraph *
Its a big play that deserves a big Olivier-sized audience. . . An intoxicating political thrill ride, and a strangely escapist antidote to current British parliamentary affairs. -- Andrzej Lukowski * Time Out London *

Author Bio

James Graham won the Catherine Johnson Award for the Best Play 2007 for Eden's Empire. His previous plays include Albert's Boy (recipient of a Pearson Playwriting Bursary) Little Madam (Finborough), Tory Boyz (Soho Theatre), The Man (Finborough), The Whisky Taster (Bush), and suddenlossofdignity.com (Bush). He is writer-in-residence at the Finborough Theatre.