This House - Graham, James

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Résumé :
This country doesn't need a constitution, never has, never will. We have History as our guide. In tough times, the British do what we have always done. We muddle through. This House is a timely and relevant political comedy, exploring Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament. In the run-up to the General Election pressure mounts as squabbling whips attempt to attract key regional votes. As it becomes clear the results will be closely balanced, the play tracks the formation, perils and consequences of a coalition government, including the compromises, conflicts and power games all in the interest of gaining control of Parliament. With well-paced, witty and waspish dialogue, This House playfully explores the childish digs and chauvinistic attitudes that riddle political life. Award-winning playwright James Graham combines comedy with comment in this portrayal of the strain between the thinking individual, the pressure to toe the part line and the end goal of winning government....

Biographie:
James Graham is a multi award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His play This Housegained critical acclaim, enjoyed a sell-out run at the National Theatre's Olivier in 2013 and its 2017 West End revival was Olivier-nominated. It was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010's by Methuen Drama. James created theatre history when his two plays Ink, about the early days of Rupert Murdoch, and Labour of Love,a romantic political comedy, played in theatres next to each other in the West End in 2017. James won an Olivier award in 2018 for Labour of Love and Inktransferred to Broadway in 2019, receiving six Tony award nominations. James' play The Vote (Donmar Warehouse) aired in real time on TV in the final 90 minutes of the 2015 polling day and was BAFTA-nominated. His most recent television film, Brexit: An Uncivil War(Channel 4/HBO) is nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award....

Sommaire:
This country doesn't need a constitution, never has, never will. We have History as our guide. In tough times, the British do what we have always done. We muddle through. This House is a timely and relevant political comedy, exploring Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament. In the run-up to the General Election pressure mounts as squabbling whips attempt to attract key regional votes. As it becomes clear the results will be closely balanced, the play tracks the formation, perils and consequences of a coalition government, including the compromises, conflicts and power games all in the interest of gaining control of Parliament. With well-paced, witty and waspish dialogue, This House playfully explores the childish digs and chauvinistic attitudes that riddle political life. Award-winning playwright James Graham combines comedy with comment in this portrayal of the strain between the thinking individual, the pressure to toe the part line and the end goal of winning government....

It recreates, with startling vividness, the madness of life in the Westminster village during five action-filled years ... above all, the play unlocks a whole era. -- Michael Billington Guardian 20121010 Graham's superb new drama ... it is by turns funny, touching and cliff-hangingly suspenseful ... Graham has researched his play with exemplary thoroughness and there is a thrilling tang of authenticity about the piece. -- Charles Spencer Telegraph 20121010 The emphasis on compromise and austerity resonates for us now, and Graham approaches the chaos of party politics in a style that is often bitingly funny ... it's a fresh and energetic piece ... packed with clever lines ... displaying a humane and savvy wit that is very much Graham's own. -- Henry Hitchings Evening Standard 20121010 From facts and memoirs Graham shapes a brilliantly exhausting, funny and moving political epic ... another hit is born ... it will last longer than the years it depicts. -- Libby Purves The Times 20121010 Graham's astute, funny and hugely enjoyable new play ... there's tremendous fun here, as Graham contrasts the ancient rituals of parliament with the grubby realities of party politics. -- Sarah Hemming Financial Times 20121011 Graham's wonderfully lively new play ... [an] incisive, witty, fictionalised account ... a powerful half-satiric, half-sympathetic portrait of a government driven to all lands of stitch-ups and compromises. -- Paul Taylor Independent 20121010 Graham's breakout play doubles as a drama about the British way of politics and a masterful lampooning of our parliamentary system ... the script nails the satin and bellicose tones of politicians and a culture stiff with sexism and class-consciousness, but it's not just caricatural, or out to show us elected officials running the gamut of incompetence. -- Maxie Szalwinska The Sunday Times 20121014 Graham's quick, informative and amusing play about parliamentary whips -- Susannah Clapp Observer 20121014 A gripping and fluidly staged account of the sink-or-swim daily life in a minority government. The Times Ferociously witty and permeated by a deep sense of the tragic-comic nature of all political systems. Telegraph It's a big play that deserves a big Olivier-sized audience... An intoxicating political thrill ride, and a strangely escapist antidote to current British parliamentary affairs. -- Andrzej Lukowski Time Out London 20130305