It’s certainly timely that a general election is happening during the run of Olivier-award winning playwright Joe Penhall’s state-of-the nation play about the role of a shadow backbencher in a world saturated with political cynicism.
It stars James Corden as an Afghanistan war veteran – in his first stage role for 12 years - opposite Anna Maxwell Martin's resolutely idealistic MP who incites a fierce acknowledgement of the frustrations felt with our failing public services.
In Matthew Warchus’ tightly wound production, Alec (Corden) is going through a bitter divorce in the family courts and is holding it together working as a security handyman.
He turns up to MP Monica’s office to install a high-tech security system, and although she can’t remember him from primary school, Alec confesses he has followed her career ascendancy.
But is his cheeky chappie charm a red flag given his issues? Alec admits he needs help with his court case.
The real-life murders of MPs David Amess and Jo Cox are keenly felt as we watch the skewed friendship unfold, especially given Monica’s insistence that her job gives her a sense of affirmation through individual contact with constituents despite the challenges.
She fumes at one point that she can’t pick and choose who she works for. The chequered-floor set by Rob Howell feels both intimate and abstract.
Moral and idealistic battle lines are drawn, but nuance is key as Penhall insists that context must be respected. Generalities in communication are damaging: Monica's resigned talk of ‘inducements’ coming from self-interested groups in her constituency, Alec’s one-man rally cry to ‘hold authority to account,’ Brummie police protection officer Mellor [Zachery Hart – brilliantly grating], who repeats his fear-mongering mantras.
Corden pushes himself in a role that sweeps from Smithy territory – he delivers some stinging, laugh-out-loud one-liners with tremendous panache - to a menacing, potentially violent, sobbing embodiment of broken Britain.
Maxwell Martin’s performance is superbly honed. Playing at 90 minutes, there’s not quite enough dramatic spacing to absorb the emotional shifts.
When empathy and fear come into competition, the outcome is usually bleak - but not here. If Monica’s character is somewhat idealised, Penhall and Maxwell Martin succeed in making her believable.
The Constituent runs at The Old Vic until August 10.
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