Labour of Love

Seeing Red

Labour of Love

by James Graham

The Questors Theatre at the Judi Dench Playhouse until 9^th May

Review by Polly Davies

What better timing is there for a political play than the week before the local elections. Except the Questors production of James Graham’s Labour of Love is not political. Well not political in the sense of Sky News or Newsnight. The razor- sharp witty script is far more about the essential nuts and bolts of politics rather than the personality dramas regularly rehashed on TV and phone screens. This is a very funny play.

Ant Foran and Isabel Barbuck are perfectly cast as the keen very New Labour David Lyons MP and his long suffering but left wing political agent Jean Whittaker. The development of their relationship over the period between 1990 and 2017 is central to the play. Their personalities and life experiences go a long way to explain the ideological differences between them and their responses to the twists and turns of fortune of the Labour party over this period. It also explains the different communication styles they use, leading to many laugh out load moments. But be warned. Much of the language is in a proudly working- class tradition and not for the faint-hearted or easily shocked.

Anne Neville’s direction uses a series of newsreel clips to illustrate the national and world events that are the backdrop to the life of a Labour MP in that period. And, my gosh, what a lot there were – The Peace accord in Northern Ireland, the MPs expenses scandal, 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, 7/7 explosions in London, a Global financial crisis, the first UK coalition Government, five or was it six Prime Ministers and of course Brexit, to name just a few. Meanwhile, against this background, in an unexceptional constituency office in North Lincolnshire, an MP and his staff continue to deal with the day-to-day work of an MP, helping with benefit queries, issues with landlords and tenants, and the fall out from de-industrialisation, as they strive to bring new investment to the area. A convincing cameo appearance by Yann Chow as the Chinese billionaire who holds the key to a regeneration of the area but underlines the philosophical differences apparent in the various shades of Labour on display.

The set design by Juliette Demoulin, with its subtle touches of red, puts us back in an office the eighties, perfectly functional but nothing fancy, we even see a fax machine working, with some excellent sound effects included.

But this is a multilayered play with an unusual structure. The play starts in 2017 and for the first half works back in time to 1990. After the interval we start in 1990 and work forward. This felt a little artificial at the end of the first act but made perfect sense by the end of the second.

In the first half as we move back through time, we are introduced to the rest of the characters. David’s clever sophisticated wife Elizabeth, played with panache by Victoria Smith, Jean’s husband Len (Anthony Curran), leader of the long-established local Labour Council, and hard-working party worker Margot Midler (Michelle Openibo). In this act they appear to be ciphers, supporting the characters of the main protagonists. The very new Labour wife, the very old labour husband, the hard-working party supporter.

Into the second act and, as we start at the beginning and move forward, the skill of Victoria, Anthony and Michelle turn these ciphers into real people, the same events we have seen before are now seen through a lens of personal stories. Elizabeth has seen her dreams of the perfect aspirational couple, riding high in Westminster political circles fade, as her husband’s ambitions change direction, Len’s ideological dislike of his MP become personal, and we see Margot move from a naïve youngster, outraged by the loss of jobs in her locality to a politically aware campaigner.

In spite of the tumultuous events, and the clear frustration of trying to make positive change needed in this constituency, the way Ant and Jean mastered the funny and clever Benedick and Beatrice style exchanges between them made this an intriguing and thoroughly entertaining evening. No wonder it won the Olivier award for Best New Comedy in 2018. And full marks to anyone not surprised by the ending.

Polly Davies, May 2026

Photography by Robert Vass