The first half of 'The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson' depicts the fateful evening in February 2016 when Boris Johnson made the decision to back the Leave campaign. The discussions held in that room between Michael Gove, Sarah Vine, Marina Wheeler, and Evgeny Lebedev during a dinner party explore, albeit sparingly in the wives’ cases, the motives of each person. Exposing Johnson’s inner conflict are the spirits of Churchill, Thatcher and Blair.
The second half jumps forward to the year 2029 where, in the chaotic aftermath of Brexit, we re-meet Johnson. He is no longer in political power but faced with another chance to “Make Britain Great Again” and get his name in the history books. The only caveat being, in order to get another shot at the leadership, he must support a referendum on Britain re-joining the EU; thus ‘Brentry’ is born.
The second half is a major improvement on a somewhat confused opening. As is to be expected from a narrative based on events of just 4 years previously, not much is learned in the first half that we didn’t already know. The funniest gag is Lebedev’s constant name-dropping, but, besides this, the kitchen scenes leave you searching for the point of this passably funny spectacle. The saviour of the first half is the inherently entertaining scenes between the past Prime Ministers in Boris’s head. Bill Champion, Emma Davies and Tim Wallers do a nice job in bringing flamboyant personas to the well-known faces, turning them into a sort of Angel/Devil on Johnson’s shoulder.
After the interval, it quickly becomes apparent that what was holding the first half back was the requirement to somewhat stick to reality. Being able to partly suspend belief and therefore accept the slightly outlandish, surreal events that unfold plays right into the sweet spot of writer Jonathan Maitland. The jokes, ranging from describing Sunderland as Chernobyl but with more metro branches to evidencing the completion of Amazon’s world takeover (including the BBC), consistently land better and the Buster Keaton style closing is both fitting and hilarious.
The main flaw with the piece is that it plays off the media's fully-formed and somewhat overused image of Bojo; the larger-than-life, clown-like character. The entire play is built on the notion that Johnson is a selfish, opportunistic, power-grabbing man with an uncanny capacity for survival, but that is as deep as the analysis goes. The internal monologue goes part way to humanising the dislikeable buffoon he is portrayed as on the surface, but in no way is this a revolutionary, new or original interpretation. That being said, although not picture perfect, Will Barton’s performance as Johnson should not be overlooked. He works with what he is given admirably. He has perfected his mannerisms and executes his appearance compellingly despite the difference in their physical stature.
On balance this is a piece of theatre which, like its subject matter, is inherently dividing. The satire could be more refined and the representation of Boris less caricature-like but overall it is a relatively amusing spectacle.
Reviewer - Rhiannon Wells
on - 18/2/20
The reviewer might want get out more if she wants to be taken seriously. When the writer described Sunderland as being like “ Chernobyl, but with more branches of Subway “ everyone
ReplyDelete( bar her, it seems ) would have known he was referring to the well known, very cheap, sandwich chain. Not an underground train system.