Kingmaker

With Boris Johnson recently announcing his intention to run as MP in 2015, Kingmaker is particularly timely. In the character of Max Newman, writers Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky present us with a politician who has similarly risen quickly through the ranks via the office of Mayor of London. This is a play which takes the character of the bumbling idiot Mayor and asks how he might have got to his position about the next potential Prime Minister. In its pseudo-Thick Of It style, it digs deep into the trappings of power; but the form often feels as conservative as its targets.

The play happens in one room over the course of one hour, as Eleanor Hopkirk MP (Joanna Bending) orchestrates a meeting betweeun Newman and a young minister, Dan Regan (Laurence Dobiesz). For various reasons, the two men are running for the position of Tory leader, but it soon becomes clear that Hopkirk has more of a part to play in procedings than first seemed, with a dark backstory slowly coming to light. It’s dramatic, yes, but not one of these characters is particularly likeable and the play ultimately suggests that there’s no room for idealism in politics.

Kingmaker is nuanced in its presentation of a Tory party which believes dogmatically in its own right to rule, but apart from the strong performances from the company (including Alan Cox doing his best Boris-Johnson-but-not impression) there’s not much substance here. Real politics is far more interesting.