LABOUR OF LOVE: A REVIEW
The night of Wednesday 27th September, I had the pleasure of being one of the first people to see James Graham's new play, Labour of Love, opening up in the West End for its first preview. It captured the reality and behind the scenes during a general election, serving you with humour and emotion.
Taken from the official website for the play:
Labour MP David Lyons cares about modernisation and “electability” … his constituency agent, Jean Whittaker cares about principles and her community. Set away from the Westminster bubble in the party’s traditional northern heartlands, this is a clash of philosophy, culture and class against the backdrop of the Labour Party over 25 years as it moves from Kinnock through Blair into Corbyn… and beyond?
The play glances into the journey of a Labour party MP through the years and the struggles that come with dealing with being the 'go-to' politician in the area. It looks into the noble times, the ruthless times and the utmost challenging. It delves into both professional and personal battles of a representative. Spanning over 25 years, it looks at the impact of each Labour leader has on the individual MP's that stand for their community. Specifically, this production looks into the relationship between MP David Lyons (Martin Freeman) and his election agent Jean Whittaker (Tamsin Greig), starting in the year 2017 and reverting back to 1990. But don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom as my summary then might have suggested. The play, in fact, is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen.
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| http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/backstage-pass/gallery/article/item404787/in-rehearsal-labour-of-love/ |
At first, when I read that the play was to be about political events, I was a little bit worried and intimidated. I was concerned as to whether I would enjoy the play at all, and whether the entire thing was going to be exceedingly heavy. Oh, how wrong I was! I want to assure everybody out there that the play is filled with comedic slack and puns. The only thing that I can advise, which was confirmed by a few guests sat behind me, is that majority of the material is strong, British, political humour. The group behind me, many of them reflected with saying "I don't understand the play," or, "Who's this?". The knowledge of Labour history, or any UK political history, is obviously not necessary, but I'm just pre-warning you that if you're not familiar with certain names and events, you may find it difficult to follow along in some respects but please don’t allow this to scare you! Comedy is universal and there is plenty in there to laugh at, even if you don’t fully understand everything! A little bit of evidence to this, Marta on Twitter says:
‘I also loved how instructive it was but so open to the public. Even me, with 0 knowledge of British politics, enjoyed it…’
So, there you go, don’t fret!
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| http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/backstage-pass/gallery/article/item404787/in-rehearsal-labour-of-love/ |
From the get-go, this play provided you with comedy. In fact, the first words to leave Greig's mouth were "For F*** sake!" which caused the audience to erupt into laughter. It immediately set the tone of the production and I knew that I was going to enjoy it. And from the frequency of laughter that left the audience, I wasn't the only one appreciating it. However, the laughter was nicely split up with doses of emotion, allowing you to see further into the relationship between Greig and Freeman’s characters.
A special mention goes to Richard Ryder, the dialect and voice coach, who completely nailed the guidance for the actors to correctly hit those Northern twangs. Specific words and phrases just made the entire thing feel more real and, Sir, for that, you deserve a special mention.
The entire cast put together an amazing show and each actor is worth noting but nothing stands out more than the on-stage chemistry between Freeman and Greig, taking the roles of MP David Lyons and his election agent, Jean Whittaker. The comedy bounced between the two of them so smoothly and they made a phenomenal pairing. It was refreshing to see considering that Greig was not originally cast for the role. In such short time that she has had to prepare for the role, she settled in well and stole the entire show. She took that role, made it her own and absolutely smashed it and it positively left a lasting impression.
So, enough from me, let's look into what others have been saying on Twitter:
@NooryNor: Perfect cast, brilliant set, politics and punchiness, and such a satisfying conclusion to a clever concept #LabourofLove
@JaneHillNews: James Graham (does he ever stop working?) has written another belter of a play about British politics. #LabourofLove
@leeannrvn: Interval tweet - absolutely loving Labour of Love at Noël Coward Theatre! Martin Freeman & Tasmin Greig brilliant! Very funny, clever set 
There you have it!
I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Please remember that I don't usually write reviews, which may be obvious, so be kind.
All I can say is... I strongly encourage you to see this play during its run.
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