Make England Great Again – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Francis Beckett’s new play takes the very topical theme of a right-wing political party having assumed power in the United Kingdom and speculates on its possible consequences. There is certainly plenty in our present political discourse to provide the raw material for such a narrative.

The play starts with a dialogue between King Charles III and Max Moore, the Prime Minister of Briton’s First, a recently elected right-wing minority government. Max is seeking a dissolution of Parliament even though he has only been Prime Minister for six days. We also meet the leader of the opposition, Pam Jones, denied the premiership because of alleged fraudulent electoral activities in a key number of the constituencies that she won. The fourth member of the cast is Max Moore’s political adviser and possible romantic interest, Samantha, who coaches Max in a series of interviews and conversations which reveal much about his motivations and prejudices.

In spite of the potentially rich seam of material for a political drama in our current political climate, and in the USA, the play is little more than a repeat of the prejudices, hypocrisy and polarised views which we read every day in some of our media. It offered nothing in the way of original insights and the ending was depressingly predictable. Whilst it had its moments of humour, much of it was of a fairly predictable nature viz:

Max: How do I say a gang of lefty Jews?

Samantha: the North London metropolitan elite.

Silas Hawkins in the role of Max was a beer swigging populist with an underage Thai bride, and a chip on his shoulder from his education in a minor public school. Clive Greenwood gave a creditable impression of the speech patterns and mannerisms of our own King, although his sartorial standards fell far below those of His Majesty. I felt that as the leader of the opposition Miranda Colmans was not really a credible leader of a major political party. Even by the standards of our present political leadership I don’t think she would have made the cut. Samantha, played by Abi Haberfield, is an important part as she reveals the background to Moore’s motivations and intentions, and as an interlocutor with the leader of the opposition. Unfortunately, she spoke rather quietly and from the back row of the auditorium, which is not a long way from the playing area, I missed some of what she said.

The play was very simply staged in the Gatehouse’s theatre space. There was no scenery and only a few chairs and a coffee table, moved on and off, sometimes rather clumsily, by the cast and members of the backstage crew.  Normally I am a fan of minimal staging, but in this case, using the same chairs for Buckingham Palace and for the prison seemed a stretch too far. Overall, the production had a feeling of being rather underprepared for its global launch.

Although there are undoubtedly important plays to be written about our present political environment, this is not one of them.

Reviewer:  Paul Ackroyd

Reviewed: 30th September 2025

North West End UK Rating: