the end of history - Royal Court Theatre

[londonpostie]

I was there tonight. It's difficult to be objective because this was my tribe - and I too ended up watering over.

It was direct and subtle, there was stuff you could only think about if you were of an age - for example, it silently screamed 'first of her family' repeatedly - implicitly linking to the Labour governments of the 1960s and its achievements (and her indebtedness), but you kind of had to be there or thereabouts, imo. Goodness me, all those shiny new red brick uni's!

It did feel - a little, in parts - as if act 3 was effectively a joining-up-the-dots monologue, and I did wonder if that was a late addition to the work. I'll reflect on that and likely revise my thoughts. I just felt a little overpowered by its sentimentality. Maybe that's fine; if you can't be sentimental about family and Old Labour, what can you. I came out feeling a small justice had taken place. A social justice.

[Stephen]

Seeing this for the second time this evening was quite different and more emotional for me. I found the third act much more poignant the second time around and noticed more character quirks.

Lesley Sharp really is wonderful in this, as are all of the cast, and left me really wanting to know more.

I hope as many board members as possible manage to see this.

[wannabedirector]

I was also there last night. I found it to be an interesting and engaging piece of theatre, which was surprisingly funny. Throne manages to write beautifully about the family dynamics between parents and their children, but also relationships between siblings. The politics seems sort of to be the prism that those dynamics are presented, although I expected the play to be overtly more political. There’s some great performances in there as well, with Lesley Sharp and David Morrissey deserving of praise. Yet, the star of the show in my eyes was Laurie Davidson, who I could’ve watched all night. At less than two hours it was a short evening, and although the play has its flaws, I’d say it’s probably worth a look.

[theplayer]

I went to today's matinee. I really liked it. David Morrissey and Lesley Sharp were great.

The final scene was very moving.

[peelee]

Rather good, with believable characters and a play with something to say about families. It held my attention throughout.

[theglenbucklaird]

Jul 2, 2019 17:16:03 GMT Steve said:

I think it's wonderfully entertaining, and somewhat moving too, with great performances, but it isn't a classic political work destined to be remembered, primarily because it's more like a series of skits, than skillfully focused. I had great fun notwithstanding.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Unlike Bartlett's "Love Love Love," which had a laser-like 'right-wing' focus on taking down progressivism, this is a genuine 'left-wing' show, which addresses the difficulties of being progressive, and the difficulties of being the children of progressives, while affirming those underlying progressive values.

What this work most resembles is an updated version Arnold Wesker's "Chicken Soup with Barley," in that it follows a left-wing family over 20 years of political drift (1997 - 2017) exactly as Wesker's play did (1936 - 1956).

It is funnier than Wesker's play, as it is informed by skittish comic mischief from first to last, which is also why it is less successful as a whole than Wesker's play, lacking that play's focus. For instance, I laughed like a drain at an elongated skit about male and female naked selfies, performed masterfully by a precisely nasal, yet lazily sardonic Kate O'Flynn.

In the casting, there is a nod to Flynn's previous National Theatre project, "A Taste of Honey," as again she finds her whole personality encroached upon and defined by an overweening mother, again played by Lesley Sharp, again on top ditzy comic form, but this time informed by greater wellsprings of genuine love and affection. For me, it's O'Flynn and Sharp who bring the most laughs, though all the excellent actors get their moments.

As Marwood said, Morrissey's principal moment comes toward the end, when he is tasked with pretending that all this isn't light comedy, and delivers us a dominating dose of Weskerian progressively political punch. Like in the Wesker play, Morrissey's patriarch walks in his wife's political shadow, but not because he is tragically weak and unprincipled (as in the Wesker) but because he is humorously strong and over-principled. This once again tends towards making this a comic entertainment (and Morrissey is a natural bombastic comedian, as he showed us in Hangmen), rather than a state of the nation play.

Still, the State of the Nation is very much under consideration if only because this show takes us from Blair to Brexit, and while it exposes life's endless compromises, it nonetheless makes a strong case for ever-trying to revive the ever-flailing corpse of progressivism.

I enjoyed the whole cast, and outside of the three principals above, I especially Laurie Davidson's weak young amiable drug-addled sibling, whose role seemed somewhat informed by a very similar character played at the National by Rory Kinnear in "Last of the Haussmans," another State of the Nation play.

This play may only be a blip in the history of political plays, rather than the "end of history" promised, but I found it the funniest and most entertaining of these types of shows, despite not being the most impactful.

4 stars from me.

Really good write up, but just a three stars from me.

One thing I noticed, the Royal Court audience loved the 'f***ing Blair' lines. Lapped them up which surprised me lots. Who voted for him?

[Rory]

Saw yesterday's matinee and was thoroughly entertained and ultimately very moved. I thought it captured the dynamic of family life and relationships very well, and the sense of personal sacrifice required to live by your principles. Lovely performances throughout, a beautiful set by Grace Smart, wonderful music. When it ended, I could have sat watching them all for another two hours. Enjoyed reading this thread again after I'd seen it, particularly Steve's thoughts.

[n1david]

Was there tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. For me, the significant element was the sibling relationship - that to me rang absolutely true, and the love/hate relationship with people you've grown up with truly resonated with me. The play was less overtly political than I expected, dealing with ideas and principles rather than specifics of individual politicians (although this is touched on). In the end I was very moved by this, I thought the acting was superb and I'm glad it was played straight through.

Having said that... my husband was not impressed by this. He's an only child, so the sibling stuff didn't resonate with him. He felt that the parents were portrayed satirically in the early scenes, and he felt that the effort to give them weight later in the play was too late after the initial scenes. While he enjoyed the acting, he was very disappointed in the play.

I'm guessing a parent may have yet another perspective on this play. I suspect your attitude to this play may depend on your own personal history and experience.

[Deleted]

Thought this was OK, agree the sibling relationship worked well and speaking from experience the preparing for the

SPOILER: Click to show

funeral

scene was quite accurate.

However I really don't want to see any more plays about whether or not feckless adult offspring will inherit a massive house from their parents. I guess the fact that many contemporary playwrights find this such a fascinating topic implies something about the backgrounds these playwrights come from.

[lou105]

To be honest, I doubt any house featured in a Royal Court set would hold much value. They all seem to be dropping to bits.

[rumbledoll]

Went to see the last matinee yesterday. Reminded me a lot of The Last of Haussmanns but this is less funny, less sharp and less affecting, though it moved me in the end. The humour seemed a bit forced though, as if the playwright persists with this or that phase only for the sake of encouraging laughs, not to serve the story.. and it shows. Acting very good all around, especially Kate O’Flynn.

[londonpostie]

fwiw, I thought the point about private ownership and property was well made for that generation of Labour people.

I imagine you wouldn't have to dig too deep into Corbyn's allotment to find similar views, though you wouldn't even bother looking in Tony Blair's picture perfect kitchen garden.

Together with family ties, that generational contrast was the point of the play as I understood it.

[missbabs]

I'm afraid that I didn't think much of this at all. It just felt like something that I'd seen so many times before, and not nearly as well-executed.

I found the humour so obvious and forced (along with the rest of the story - I mean, calling their son Karl?) that at times it was like watching some awful ITV sitcom from the 90s with a few political references thrown in here and there.

No character felt real, merely cliches (gay son gone off the rails, ambitious daughter betraying her family's ideals)

I'm really surprised that this wasn't blasted by the critics as it's one of the weakest productions that I've seen in a while. It's a real shame as there so many talented people involved.

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2019 16:41:54 GMT missbabs said:

I found the humour so obvious and forced (along with the rest of the story - I mean, calling their son Karl?) that at times it was like watching some awful ITV sitcom from the 90s with a few political references thrown in here and there.

Oh yes, was going to say that the first act (running joke that the mother can't cook, surly teenage / early 20s children, grumpy husband) was very reminiscent of "Butterflies"

[missbabs]

Aug 11, 2019 20:30:35 GMT @xanderl said:

Aug 11, 2019 16:41:54 GMT missbabs said:

I found the humour so obvious and forced (along with the rest of the story - I mean, calling their son Karl?) that at times it was like watching some awful ITV sitcom from the 90s with a few political references thrown in here and there.

Oh yes, was going to say that the first act (running joke that the mother can't cook, surly teenage / early 20s children, grumpy husband) was very reminiscent of "Butterflies"

Yeah, that's exactly it - and jokes about son's girlfriend seeing dad naked, mum spitting out her own cooking, finding used tissues in son's bedroom...Every joke felt so lazy.

[londonpostie]

I read the cooking thing, at least, to be one of the generational flags and to be contrasted with the gay son's four types of meat cooking for her post-funeral wake. As she was the first in her family to receive higher education, travel the world, own property, etc, so she was determined to be the first woman of her line not defined by domesticity in general and cooking in particular.

It was a very conscious decision.

I'm not qualified on the subject of familiarity as between mothers and adult daughter, whether it be about anal sex or wank tissues, so can't offer comment.

[dlevi]

I thought it was a good evening. The kind of play that Michael Codron would've produced in the West End for a season or two ( with a solid replacement cast) but then probably forgotten. It doesn't insult our intelligence and it does offer opportunities for talented actors but when all is said and done - so what? I will say this though, it's so much better than most of the other plays which have found their way to either of the Royal Court's stages.

[lichtie]

This play was redeemed by the cast, so in the end happy I saw it. I was left unsure however whether this was supposed to be a parody or just very lazy writing. If Jack Thorne's intent was to show how "true" socialist middle-class wannabees survived New Labour, then what exactly was the point. Beyond basically presenting fan-wank to a fraction of the audience watching it, who could jeer along with any mentions of Tony Blair.

[n1david]

On the South Bank Show Jack Thorne said that the play was based on his own life and indicated that the parents in the play are basically his own parents.

[londonpostie]

It's quite remarkable when you take time to think about it - the social revolution from mid-60s to Blair, and then to now.

For example, for most of the period, these now little old ladies had next to no control over their reproductive systems, or much else to be honest.

[lichtie]

Aug 12, 2019 12:45:42 GMT n1david said:

On the South Bank Show Jack Thorne said that the play was based on his own life and indicated that the parents in the play are basically his own parents.

Well if it's an affectionate look at his parents I feel sorry because it's not how it comes across....

[n1david]

To be fair, he didn’t say it was intended to be affectionate...

[Latecomer]

I think there was a better play struggling to come out that didn’t quite make it...but it was a noble attempt. As a signed up member of the Labour Party and firmly believing in “for the many not the few” I too struggle with the dilemma of, do I stick to principles and not hand down acquired wealth to my children, or, do I ditch principles as they will never be able to afford their own houses without help? If I give them money (that I have more or less acquired because property prices have gone up, rather than working for it) am I just perpetuating the problem? If I don’t will they have a harder life than I did? Does that matter?
I think the play would have been more biting if they had decided the youngest son needed the money more than the other two....that would have set the cat amongst the pigeons.
Mind you, why I think I could possibly do better than an accomplished professional writer of plays is beyond me! Made myself chuckle....

[londonpostie]

I think you can argue it's a pretty niche work, with perhaps only people of a certain vintage and political bent grasping some of the subtler themes.

A word that, iirc correctly, was only used once in the play has also not been mentioned here: Brexit.

If you wanted to turn it into a full 3 act, accusatory, blood-on-the-carpet generational melo/drama, there was scope - the foundation was there for a setting that explored/exposed the bitter factionalism in the current Labour Party.

It seemed to me the writer had a clear purpose, he achieved that and so we ended up with his love letter to mum.

[Deleted]

SPOILER: Click to show

"Hi Mum, I've written a play about you. You go on about anal sex then die between the second and third acts"