Great Britain at The Lyttleton

The rehearsals for Richard Bean’s new play, Great Britain, were shrouded in secrecy and the first that members of The National Theatre heard about it was in an email a few days before its opening.  The reason for this was the Levenson Enquiry and the brouhaha surrounding phone hacking and the like.  Because Mr. Bean’s (no not that Mr. Bean) satirical comedy is set in the offices of the daily tabloid newspaper, The Free Press, where all kinds of shenanigans take place (‘we go out and destroy other people’s lives’).  Not that he just has a pop at the press, for the police, politicians and recent scandals are all fair game during his lengthy 2 hours, 24 minutes play.

It boasts a great cast.   Billie Piper is Paige Britain its amoral and highly ambitious news editor, Robert Glenister plays the potty mouthed editor, Wilson Tikkel and Dermot Crowley assumes the role of the Irish proprietor, Paschal O’Leary.  They all have a high old time firing shots at various British institutions, some more obvious than others.  For the Guardener (‘we think so you don’t have to’) read the Guardian, the Dependent, the Independent, Rebekah Brooks, Virginia White, Paschal O’Leary, Rupert Murdoch (as I say some names are more subtle).

Billie Piper’s character, who has no qualms about how she gets to the top as long as she gets there, is at the centre of the whole play.  Her bed fellows include her boss, O’Leary, the Assistant Police Commissioner, Donald Doyle Davidson, played by the excellent Oliver Chris and the Conservative Leader, Jonathan Whey.  She also doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty.  When Virginia White beats her to the post of editor when Wilson Tikkel moves onto television, it’s Paige who does all the dirty work, whilst her new boss escapes to her eerie to run the campaigns close to her heart and suck up to O’Leary.

During the course of the evening we come into contact with ‘Jimmy the Bins’ and Marcus, two of Paige’s ‘informers’.  One sifts through various celebrities’ rubbish (no awards for guessing which one does the sifting) whilst the other dons a multitude of disguises in order to sting the aforementioned celebs.  In this murky world of the tabloids, anything goes and does.  I wonder how Mr. Bean got his ideas?  Amongst many comedic characters, one in particular stands out, namely Commissioner Sully Kassam, a sublimely funny Aaron Neil.  No-one in high office could ever be so hilariously inept and bungling, could they?

Tim Hatley’s design brilliantly evokes a bustling newspaper office, but the clever use of a glass wall separating the editor from his minions is a bit too clever.  When the actors deliver their lines behind the glass a lot of their dialogue is lost which is a great shame as Great Britain is built on superb one-liners and to miss even one is a travesty.  Not that I can admit to ‘getting’ every single joke – too clever for me, mate!!

Whilst Great Britain isn’t as gloriously funny as Richard Bean’s previous scorcher, One Man, Two Guvnors, it’s a very clever expose of much that is wrong with our tiny island.  Stereotypes abound, but as the acting is of the highest quality Mr. Bean’s point is perfectly made.