**** See Thatcher and the Queen have tea and scones in the Tri-Cycle's comedic production of 'Handbagged' at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre ****

It is the queen’s priority to be as politically neutral, wary of her government ministerial advice but not let her opinion be known if she does not agree. The Prime minister, Thatcher in our case, must respect and acknowledge the sovereign’s opinion irrespective of whether it clashes with her political agenda.  Yet putting principles aside, these influential women could have had a relationship of a more comical and endearing hue as shown by Moira Buffini at the Vaudeville Theatre. 

Indhu Rubashingham’s original tri-cycle production of ‘Handbagged’ is an imagination of the young Queen and Mags having private and awkward conversation over tea and scones, which prove to be a surprisingly unthreatening event. Despite what history may have portrayed, Buffini puts media spin on its head and reveals a personal side to the iconic ladies through four actresses on stage, the Queen (Marion Bailey,) Thatcher (Steller Gonet,) Liz (Lucy Robinson,) and Mags (Fenella Woolgar.) 

‘Handbagged’ is a giggling political farce where Richard Kent’s golden jubilee inspired stage fits a party of both the older and younger figures reflecting on past secrets kept hidden from the world, ‘I didn’t say that’ or  ‘I definitely said that.’ Mags (Woolgar) would look sternly to the audience and state her conservative ideology as if she were at the Houses of Parliament and Liz (Robinson) would sheepishly sink into her seat and admit she is tuning out. Bailey as queen, would then have a moan and tantrum requesting an interval because ‘it’s the best part of the play’ seconds before Thatcher (Gonet) begins to explore her second term as Prime minister. 

Although comedic, the script manages to handle controversial claims on their differing opinions particularly on the commonwealth, policies of the British government including apartheid and the miners' strike. This is where much-needed actors like Neet Mohan and Jeff Rawle come in, breaking down chunky and often contentious political subjects. They play multiple characters with a mini sub plot between them regarding which characters to act and which not to which include a Neil Kinnock battle on his ‘I warn you’ speech. 

 

Mohan plays a palace footman, Kenneth Kaunda, Enoch Powell, Kenneth Clarke, a protester, Michael Shea, and Nancy Regan, which is his boldest impersonation. He wears chic lipstick, is ‘handbagged’ and struts in heels. Jeff Rawle manages to keep his composure in 10 character roles including Dennis Thatcher, Ronald Regan, Lord Peter Carrington, Gerry Adams and Michael Heseltine through a northern Irish accent, American accent, cockney accent, posh accent and a parody imitation of Prince Philip. When interviewed he told me, ‘it’s fraught with disaster, especially coming on with the wrong hat or forgetting your glasses.’

‘Handbagged’ encapsulates over 11 years of Thatcher’s service in less than 2 hours. It will make theatregoers laugh until they cry. It is meant for everyone as the historical events, government figures and humorous jokes are all too familiar. The script is just right which is why ‘Handbagged’ does not fail to show a funnier and unintimidating side to politics. 

Jeff Rawle on living life on the edge, not forgetting your glasses and the challenge of playing 10 prominent characters that influenced Margaret Thatcher.

Jeff Rawle, famous for his sinister role as Silias Blissett from Channel 4’s ‘Hollyoaks’ and Amos Diggory from blockbuster movie ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, talked to me from a small room with a bowl of soup in front of him. It was his lunch break and the soup was kindly offered by the stage management team of the West End theatre where the play, ‘Handbagged’, will be shown this April since its move from the original Tri-cycle stage

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(Rawle as Amos Diggory, father of Cedric played by Robert Pattinson from the Harry Potter movie) 

Rawle explained how excited he was to be back with the cast members from last year’s production directed by the Tri-cycle theatre’s own Indhu Rubasingham. ‘It’s the fourth day from a four-month break. It’s lovely! It’s a chance to have another go and revisit the proof reads. We have Moira Boffini, the writer, with us at rehearsals and tweaking things.’

Last year, the play sold out immediately due to its interesting nature, which looks at Thatcher’s historical and political reign. Rawle has the challenging task of playing 10 characters for ‘Handbagged’ which he described as ‘a funny, engaging and witty 80s play about Thatcher’s remarkable right into power and her relationship with the Queen and others like Ronald Reagan.’

Having had a fair share of playing multiple characters at the National Theatre’s ‘Cocktail Sticks’ and ‘The Power of Yes’, Rawle thrives on playing characters of different ranges and in this case that includes Jerry Adams, Geoffrey Howe, Ronald Regan, Dennis Thatcher, Prince Philip, Michael Heseltine, Neil Kinnock and Peter Carrington. “It is  almost impossible especially when you’re coming off and on stage in a fast speed. Sometimes you literally have three lines to change from one character onto the next. It’s fraught with disaster, especially coming on with the wrong hat or forgetting your glasses. Apart from Neil Kinnock, that is.’  Nonetheless, the hassle of grabbing his characters’ props on time hasn’t stopped him from loving them. He acknowledges Reagan’s talents with the camera and microphone as a former actor himself, but saw that Howe was closely aligned to his range physically and vocally. ‘I never voted Conservative but I thought he was sensible, erudite and a bit of a dark horse. He was the one who brought Thatcher down and spoke sense when he made that remarkable speech.’ Rawle even had the pleasure of working with Kinnock whilst filming Channel 4’s comedy show, ‘Drop the Dead Donkey.’ 

Rawle told me how he loves cooking and reading in his spare time. ‘Doing nothing is quite an art for me as I am always doing something.’ He described the trials and tribulations he experienced in his 40-year acting career where he learnt to follow good plays and writers, guessed where his next role was coming from and ‘live life on the edge,’ but not in the cool and wild sense. Yet, he is looking out for his next role, ideally something classic like Shakespeare. 

(Rawle as Silias Blissett from ‘Hollyoaks’)

As we ended our conversation, he gave me a personal account on how ‘Handbagged’ compared to Britain during the 80s. He said: “It makes you feel empowered after watching ‘Handbagged’ especially when you are old like me and had lived through it and on a day-to-day basis. I didn’t realise what was happening around me in a dangerous way and to sit back and watch it played out -10 years - in front of you is amazing. The Tri-cycle play is all razzle-dazzle and we deserve to be at the West End because we sold out quick last year.’ Be sure to get your ticket now. 

‘Handbagged’ will showcase at the Vaudeville Theatre from the 3rd April to the 2^nd August 2014.