Tamara Tunie (Kamala Harris) and Bertie Carvel (Donald Trump) in The 47th at The Old Vic. Photo by Marc Brenner.Bartlett clearly enjoys a meaty subject and has set his play in the period following a reflective (or is that scheming?) “…four years of lonely exile” for America’s 45th President Donald Trump, just as the Republican Party’s primaries are getting underway. This more-than-usually unscrupulous period, with its dodgy back room deals and internecine behaviour, heralds the laying-on of hands and the anointing of the GOP’s new candidate to challenge Joe Biden for the Presidency in 2024. But in Bartlett’s world, when he is asked to endorse Ted Cruz, Trump’s egotistical and vindictive streak once again surfaces, with fairly predictable results.
The tousle-topped, tangerine-tinted, trumpeting-Trump is made manifest by the extraordinary observational and mimicking skills of Bertie Carvel (with some notable help from the make-up, wigs and prosthetics team), so the ex-President arrives fully formed on stage in a golfing buggy and then allows the audience to assimilate the now familiar physical gestures and mannerisms whilst lining-up (and missing) a putt, before breaking the fourth wall and addressing directly those patrons already cringing in the stalls. Were he to utter “Now is the winter of our discontent” at this point, it wouldn’t be in the least surprising, such are the parallels with Richard III’s griping bitterness. But, in true Trumpian fashion, the narcissist is never far from the surface and instead, he bemoans “I know, I know, you hate me. So much, right?” Creepily it’s as though he never left our screens or the interminable Twitter-verse which he inhabited with minimal self-restraint.
As it progresses, the remainder of the play draws heavily on other Shakespearean plot lines with notable nods to King Lear, Julius Caesar and Macbeth with Trump’s children, especially Ivanka (Lydia Wilson) touted as successor when she Cordelia-like, refuses to pay homage to her father and instead advocates striking a deal with him to become his heir (and Vice-Presidential running mate).
Simon Williams defies his height and flutters and sputters his way through his few scenes as octogenarian sleepy Joe Biden who forsakes a second Presidential term, stepping aside for Kamala Harris Tamara Tunie to assume the mantle and take up the cudgels against the man whose self-obsession threatens to destroy democracy itself.
Despite all of the very commendable integral parts to this piece, ironically it’s single greatest strength becomes it’s single greatest flaw. Bartlett’s Trump delivers a succession of lecture-y but coherent, considered, articulate and often witty, self-aware dialogue. Indeed, to paraphrase the man himself — he knows words, he has the best words! It imbues this Trump with an intelligence manifestly lacking in the original. In common with the overwhelming majority of audience members (given their reactions at key moments), this reviewer can only hope that Bartlett’s near future fantasy doesn’t materialise in reality.
Park Theatre has proved itself an exceedingly productive nursery for developing new work during its first 9 years and despite the hiatus of lockdown, Finsbury Park’s creative theatrical hub continues to encourage, support and develop the output of both those in the spotlight and other creative talents behind the scenes.