Confessions of Gordon Brown was a must see for anyone working in Westminster. Starting off at the Edinburgh Fringe before heading to Trafalgar Studios (with a short holiday to Brighton for Labour Party Conference) this was a real treat for all politicos.
Written by Kevin Toolis and performed by Ian Grieve you really did feel that you were watching Gordon Brown. Set in what looked like a personal office in Westminster, Brown shares his thoughts on his time in office, Tony and, of course, the Coalition. Ian Grieve is such a talent. He mastered Brown’s mannerisms and voice perfectly. There were times that he actually looked so much like Brown that you had to remind yourself this was a play and not a real life lecture.
The studio at Trafalgar Studios is small, dark and has quite a low ceiling. It really added to the mood that you were listening in on someone’s secrets. As it was so intimate you were never far from Grieve and could really feel the tension as he swore through Brown’s anecdotes of his rise and fall from power.
Confessions of Gordon Brown played at Edinburgh Festival prior to moving to London. I did wonder if amendments had been made to the script as it was so up-to-date with references to Damian McBride and his book Power Trip (published during Labour Party Conference). But you couldn’t really expect anything less as Toolis used to be a journalist in the House of Commons.
I hope this one man show is on stage again soon. It was such an impressive performance from Grieve. He captured Brown so well but was able to slip into other Cabinet members with ease mimicking their voice and accents brilliantly.
To watch an exert of the play visit the Confessions of Gordon Brown website.
Read reviews of Confession of Gordon Brown: Independent, ConHome
Sarah Southern