1979 by Michael Healey. The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 to 27 January, 2024.

2**: William Russell.

“Turgid drama about Canadian politics.”

This turgid play deals with the events facing the Progressive Conservative Government Prime Minister Joe Clark – nobody’s choice for the job – in geting his first budget through the Canadian parliament. Just why what is little more than a dreary lecture on events there is little reason for anyone here to be interested in has been taken up by the usually reliable Finborough is anybody’s guess – it consists of a series of encounters between various political figures including his Liberal predecessor Pierre Trudeau – someone at least one has heard of – and others, five of them played by Samantha Coughlan, none of whom one has heard of. To help there is a screen above the Prime Minister’s desk on to which facts and figures are projected. It does little good when it comes to eliciting what is going on. Joseph Hay does his best to flesh out the character of Clark, Ian Porter gets some chances to do the same with the undeniably interesting Trudeau and Samantha Coughlan playing five people of different sexes, which she does commendably, adds to the overall confusion. To be fair a full house on a Saturday afternoon applauded their efforts quite enthusiastically – maybe they were sympathising with the cast at having to do it all over again a couple of hours later or comprised ex pat Canadians resident here.

James Graham managed with This House to make the problems of a Labour Government here faced with a vital vote interesting, but Healey – while it may have gone down well in Canada where it has been staged at least twice and the political shenanigans presumably lingered in the public memory – with 1979 he has failed to come up with a play interesting in itself for foreign audiences. The events all take place over one day in December as various people come and harangue Clark in his office about how he is to get that budget through. The Finborough has successfully staged some of Healey’s previous plays which presumably why they took a risk with this one and maybe there are enough expat Canadians in London to keep the house full but for anyone unfamiliar with Canadian politics, especially that far in the past, it is not one to make a bee line for. Clark, for all Joseph Hay’s efforts, remains somebody one has no desire to get to know. He may have been less than charismatic in life, which could, of course, be doing the man an injustice as he does seem to have had ideas about how politics should be conducted. The trouble is nobody else agreed with him. It seldom happens at the Finborough but this play is the theatrical equivalent of a spoilt ballot paper.

Cast

Joseph May – Joe Clark.

Samantha Coughlan – Allan Lawrence, Flora MacDonald, Moureen McTear, Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper.

Ian Porter – Joel Crosbie, Pierre Trudeay, Flora McDonald, Jenni Byrne.

Creatives

Director – Jimmy Waters

Designer – Mim Houghton.

Lighting Designer – Mark Dymock.

Sound Designer – Edward Lewis.