subject: Yes, Prime Minister at the Gielgud Theatre, London [print this page] Yes, Prime Minister at the Gielgud Theatre, London
Yes, Prime Minister' was originally a TV sitcom back in the early 1980s. Originally the titke was 'Yes, Minister', because it focused on a minister getting to grips with the reigns of power, rather than the PM. Later the format developed as the minister became the leader of his party. Now the original writing team have created an up to date version which is now playing at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.
Prime Minister Jim Hacker (played by David Haig) has a slim majority and thus only a slender chance of staying in power. An oil-rich state has offered to lend Europe a large sum of cash which will solve Hacker's problems, but there are strings which Sir Humphrey only reveals after some arm-twisting. It's a day that is going to get worse for the PM as the visiting minister from Kumranistan demands to have sex with a girl, and the PM and his aids are expected to arrange it, otherwise the loan deal will be scrapped.
David Haig's Hacker is more frantic and emotional than the Prime Minister in the TV series, and there are times when he, almost, loses control. But he regains his composure in order to bring Sir Humphrey and the Director-General of the BBC quickly into line. The Haig-Goodman relationship is convincing and provides the same self-serving tension in the relationship, but there's more originality in David Haig's exhausting characterisation of Hacker.
There's good support from Jonathan Slinger as Bernard Woolley, the PM's Principal Private Secretary, who is again torn between loyalties. And Emily Joyce makes good work of the new role of the politically correct Special Adviser who stands side-by-side with the PM against the conniving forces of the Civil Service which constantly plot agianst the Prime Minister with the inevitable humourous consequences.
This stage version, though not as biting as the original TV series, still manages to amuse and provide many cringe worthy moments, so If you are in London and fancy a night of thought provoking humour, get yourself to the Gielgud and sit back and enjoy.
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