London

BREXIT

By Robert Khan & Tom Sal;insky.

4**** The King’s Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1QN to17 November 2018.

Tues- Sat 7pm. Mat Sat 3pm. Sun 11 November 3pm.

Runs 75 mins. No interval.

TICKETS: 0207 226 8561

www.kingsheadtheatre.com

@reviewsgate.

@pursuivant

Review: William Russell 30 October.

Yes and No, Prime Minister

A very amusing account of what happens after Matron gets dismissed the debt to Yes Minister is obvious, but that is not to detract from the pleasure one gets from watching her self serving successor, Adam Masters – a lovely performance from Timothy Bentinck – struggle to survive by not actually doing anything while coping with those from the Remain and Leave factions in his Cabinet who would love his job. There are some good lines, the denouement comes as a most satisfying surprise, although it really should not, and the cast clearly relish putting the knives in to various politicians of the moment.

As the Minister for Exiting the Europe Union Pippa Evans does a hilarious hatchet job on Amber Rudd and her ilk, while Tom Tuck as the International Trade Secretary, an arch leaver, is as oleaginous a Tory as one could hope to find in any Home Counties golf club. Their battle to take control of the slippery Masters is a joy to behold. As the brains behind Masters, although his loyalty is questionable, Adam Astill nails the essence of an adviser, which is to know all the answers and despair of the idiot who will not take his advice, and Lucy Mongomery as the chief EU negotiator is everything one expects the holders of that job to be, although rather more glamorous than they are in real life. At the heart of it all is Masters, and Bentinck ducks and dives delightfully dodging the knives hurtling towards his back.

The result is a first rate antidote to the doom and gloom surrounding the whole affair at the moment. If we are going to go down the drain tomorrow then at least we can have a laugh at the folly of it all while waiting to plunge.

The play with a slightly different cast had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year and lays to rest the all too often sad fact of life that what happens on the Fringe should stay on the Fringe.

Adam Master: Timothy Bentinck

Paul Connell: Adam Astill.

Diana Purdy: Pippa Evans.

Helena Brandt: Lucy Montgomery.

Simon Cavendish: Thom Tuck.

Director: Robert Khan.

Lighting Director: Nicholas Holdridge.

Music & Sound Designer: Jamie Robertson.

Assistant Director: Charlie Norburn.

Production photographs: Steve Ullathorne.