The latest National Theatre Live production arrives at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse on Sunday 28th May and it’s a real political powerhouse, with stunning central performances from two superb actors at the top of their game.
‘Best of Enemies’ comes from the pen of James Graham, the prolific talent behind This House, Ink and Labour of Love, productions which manage to dramatise recent political British history in an entertaining and illuminating manner. Mining a similar seam to Peter Morgan in the Netflix smash ‘The Crown’, Graham takes real political events (Lib/Lab pact, Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of The Sun newspaper) and turns tinder dry history into unmissable drama. For his most recent success, filmed at the Noel Coward Theatre early in 2023, Graham has crossed the Atlantic and revisited the late 1960’s, where he chooses to explore how the relationship between the media and politics became fatally intertwined in the United States during that tumultuous period, with dramatic consequences ever since for the democratic process.
In 1968 ABC was a US TV network struggling to be taken seriously when they hit upon the idea of pitching two social commentators (with polar opposite viewpoints) against each other for a televised debate in the run up to the Presidential election. In the blue corner we have William F Buckley Jr (David Harewood), darling of the Conservative New Right, whilst the red corner is occupied by waspish author and left wing pin up Gore Vidal (Zachary Quinto). Let the verbal sparring begin…
Graham’s sparkling script uses these debates to examine the wider way that politics and celebrity have gradually converged in the intervening half century, culminating in the 2016 election of a television talent show demagogue as President. It is a perfect illustration of ‘the law of unintended consequences’ in action, where grandstanding and simplification of issues into sloganeering was first seen to be effective, at the expense of the intended nuanced political debate.
Quinto is outstanding, capturing the drawling archness of Vidal to perfection, but it is Harewood’s portrayal which caught my eye more – a black actor cast in the role of a white, right wing, anti civil rights polemicist – and convincing in every frame of the film. These are not impersonations, pace Michael Sheen, but impressionistic flavours of both personalities, distilled essences of both men, and subsequently all the more potent and resonant.
Altrincham Garrick Playhouse had an excellent audience for their last screening of the superbly received ‘Good’ and future offerings are being presented directly from West End theatres over the next few months. It’s just a short 10-minute walk to the local Metrolink, or if you are driving then onsite parking is both free and plentiful. Add in a comfortable (and reasonably priced) bar for a passionate post show discussion, with friendly and knowledgeable staff, and we have all the makings of a partnership that will endure.
Regardless of whether your political sympathies are to the left or the right, there is something to mutter veiled agreement or find challenging within this production. Indeed, it will constantly force you to justify your attitudes and opinions and examine your own beliefs. Graham is rivalled only by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) as the chronicler of our modern political discourse, with his dramatists eye for the metaphorical never far from the surface in this superbly drawn narrative.
Overall, a masterful script brought to life in a visually arresting manner and featuring two scintillating central performances.
Book for Sunday’s screening at https://www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk/
Preview: Paul Wilcox
Previewed: 22nd May 2023
North West End UK Rating: