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The moron premium live: The last days of Liz Truss @WhiteBearTheatr

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Watching a play about Liz Truss, Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister, might seem as appealing as dental surgery. After all, you may be dealing with the repercussions of her fifty-day leadership, such as higher mortgage rates. You might also be familiar with the term "moron risk premium," coined by an economist to describe the impact of having Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in charge. Consequently, revisiting this time in 2022 may not seem like an enticing subject for a theatrical production. However, writer Greg Wilkinson’s unique portrayal of select aspects of Truss’s life, alongside a standout performance by Emma Wilkinson Wright, makes this a compelling work. While Wright doesn’t physically resemble Truss, she delivers a performance that captures her mannerisms, awkwardness, and platitudes. The play is currently at the White Bear Theatre . Presented as a monologue, Wright performs at a desk, on it, or even in a chair while singing karaoke—one of Truss's ...

Theatre: Elaine Stritch at Liberty



I thought it might have been anti-climactic to finally see Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which is on a limited return run at the Shaw theatre. I have had the album of the show for about many years, and the DVD of it too. But to see it live... Well... That was still something else... Ok so the show is a tightly scripted piece of work, but it also is the gold standard now for solo shows; self critical, great anecdotes (including the above one about working with Ethel Merman) and hilariously bitchy... It was worth seeing the 82 year old broad in tights belt out songs and show how a real pro does it... And she does it for two-and-a-half hours.

Going with Mark was interesting as (unlike me), he was well aware of Stritch from her television work in the UK, but normally we have totally different taste in theatre. He hated Sunday in the Park with George for instance and has taunted me about it ever since. So I was surprised that he was speechless at intermission, and it wasn't just because he had been sitting in the theatre for ninety minutes without a cigarette...

For me, being so familiar with the work it was almost tempting to want to help prompt her with "Agnes De Mille!" while she was struggling with the name of who choreographed the musical Goldilocks... I left the audience participation to others however... My only quibble with the show was the fat queen behind me who decided that "Why do the Wrong People Travel?" from Sail Away was a sing-along... That's the trouble with these shows... It isn't the performers but the audience you have to be wary of...

Stritch had an afternoon session today with Elaine Paige as well which surely must have been fascinating to have witnessed and hopefully somebody has blogged about it. Stritch's show runs through to Sunday at the Shaw... And it is worth seeing more than just once...

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