By Moira Buffini
30 May – 8 June 2024
Handbags, hairspray and sensible shoes. The monarch – Liz.Her most powerful subject – Maggie. One believed there was no such thing as society. The other had vowed to serve it.
Over the course of a decade, two of Britain-s most iconic women meet regularly. In private. Sharing their views on what it means to be British and navigating their opposing opinions, do their smiles tell a true story? What actually happened behind those closed doors? In this comedy, premiered in 2013, Moira Buffini imagines their relationship, and looks at what might have happened when two of the most powerful characters of our time came face-to-face.
Cast
T | Morven Rae
Q | Janet Edden
Mags | Susan Kitcatt
Liz | Harriet Datta
Actor 1 | David Hall
Actor 2 | Simon Vines
Directed by Paul Marshall
Photography by Keith Orton
Review | June 2024 | Theo Spring
Moira Buffini-s play has a most interesting concept and employs some unusual theatrical ploys as it tells the imagined conversations between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Queen during their weekly meetings. Similar in age, it evolves that there is little similarity in their beliefs and, of course, their journey to their roles are very different as it is clearly pointed out during conversations that Maggie is elected and, of course, the Queen is there by birthright.Covering events from 1979 to 1990, there are younger and older versions of the pair and, by way of different conversations and reactions, the script reveals the changes that they undergo during that time span.
Given different versions of their names, it is Morven Rae-s older Maggie, or -T- as she is known, who opens the play alone on stage with an excellent imitation of the PM, complete with low, slow voice. Blue-suited and with Maggie-s well-known pussy-cat bow blouse, she set the scene. Her pronounciation of the word -No- was so like the real thing, and one that the script often repeated.
Her alter-ego is known as Mags with Susan Kitcatt in the role. Again, beautifully costumed, to her fell some of the meatier political events, and between the two of them there were certain omissions in their recall, until reminded. Events like the Miner-s Strike and the Poll Tax were certainly brought up for discussion, but not, initially, by them, but there is an emotional recollection of the Brighton Hotel bomb, and the bomb that blew up Airey Neave.
Gentle but firm, Janet Edden skillfully brought the older Queen, known as -Q-, to the stage. Seemingly conciliatory over some points, the character stands up for her beliefs and was, it transpires, not necessarily a fan of Mrs T, overheard calling her “that bloody women†but ever polite to her face.
Harriet Datta is the younger Queen, known as -Liz- who is juggling with much in her life during that period and the script also takes us back to her promise, made to her people on her accession which is beautifully delivered.
As a play dealing with politics, the playwright brings in two male actors to play a variety of different people – politicians, visiting dignitaries, and of course, Maggie-s husband Denis. Simon Vines as Actor 2 takes this role, always appearing with a glass in his hand and he is made something of a buffoon here. With a very speedy change of wigs and accents, he speedily transformed himself into others who influenced those years – Ronald Reagan, Peter Carrington, an outspoken Rupert Murdoch in an outrageous Australian hat with corks bobbing, and more.
Similarly, David Hall as Actor 1 starts off as a minor footman, clearing away tea things, but impressively appears as Kenneth Kaunda, President of Gambia and later an elegant Nancy Reagan in a charming red dress. He also has a set-to with Actor 2 over who should take on the role of Neil Kinnock, with something of a stand-off.
Set in a reception room in Buckingham Palace, Jenny Kingman-s design showed other parts of the palace viewed through the large central window and was a major achievement by the three set painters, Mary Griffiths, Jenny Kingman and Jean Field.
With Actor 1 and Actor 2, bobbing in and out in various characters, a discussion about the forthcoming interval (Q thinks the best thing about plays is the interval!); breaking the fourth wall on occasion and even shaking hands with an audience member in the front row; helpful lines projected onto the set to delineate the time scale, both Q and Liz coming down from the rake, as if on a walkabout – waving and acknowledging the crowd, the play is, as I said, unusual.
Costumes were excellent as were most of the wigs. Mags-s overshadowed her face a little and Ronald Reagan-s quick throw-on one was not right, but both Queens looked splendidly accurate as did T. Delivery by all the cast brought the characters strongly to life although Mags sometimes had a little over-use of arm movements. Music through the show anchored the passing years and the transformation of Mrs T slowly becoming more royal than royalty was well defined.
Of course, we could never know how these meetings actually went, over those many years, but the author gave thoughtful insight into how they just might have done, bringing an intriguing play to the stage.
It was interesting to meet both royalty and so many political influencers on stage – a grand achievement by Director Paul Marshall who gets extra plaudits for his clever and thoughtful choreography of the cast, who were always in the right place at the right moment with the character speaking in, as it were, the spotlight.