I've been to the theatre in Leeds this afternoon, to the Playhouse to be precise to see 'THATCHER The Musical' an all singing, all dancing satirical look at the life Of Margaret Thatcher. I went with a friend who when she was in her early fifties did an open university degree and obtained a Bsc in Biology then in her early 60's she is regularly running half marathons and in between she spent 10 years working in the supermarket filling up shelves with sliced bread!! It's only now that she has retired she is wondering why :??: she did that job for all that time in the twilight of her working years. ..anyway I digress...
We met in Leeds and had a lovely bowl of homemade soup in the Playhouse cafe where we caught up on the goings on in our respective lives as we only meet up occasionally.
I didn't know what to expect of the production which was performed by an all woman cast from The 'foursight' company but it was full of surprises right from the beginning.
A huge handbag is pushed onto the stage and opens up to reveal Maggie sitting inside it. This is Narrator Maggie, played by Sarah Thom who remains onstage almost throughout. She gives a plausible performance of Maggie as an octogenarian, slightly unsteady on her feet but still showing the battling qualities for which Mrs Thatcher is best known.
The play is vibrant and funny and portrays the best bits of Maggie's long life, with nine actors playing the Grantham grocer's daughter at different points in her mainly political life before all of them appear on stage as Mrs T for the finale.
Apart from the handbag, there's a basic set with an elevated door to Number Ten taking up a strategic central position and little else, although the accompaning organ at one point spins around to become a tank. This is at the point in the show when Maggie's popularity as prime Minister is at an all time low, Maggie the narrator declares "A war fell right into my hands, it threw me a lifeline, it worked for me Tony...the secret is.. to be under attack!"
The 'Foursight' actors specialise in physical theatre, they adopt different facial expressions and add a pair of glasses to turn into different characters.
Highlights of the show are MPs on opposing sides in the House of Commons being portrayed as dogs baying at one another; the Maggie who belts out a punk rock song in the style of Johnny Rotten; and the troubled times of Maggie's leadership which are represented by a storm at sea. There is also a skit on the miners strike and a fight ensues between Arthur Scargill and Maggie (very funny...the sketch that is; not the real life events)
All in all not a bad afternoon's entertainment for a £5 stand by ticket;)