Hope

by Jack Thorne

An urgent political play from the writer behind Let The Right One In and This is England ’86. Hope is a funny and scathing fable attacking the squeeze on local government.

How do you save twenty-two million pounds? Mark and Hilary, the leaders of the Council, are about to find out.

Jack Thorne's Hope premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in November 2014.

'valuable and timely... a sunburst of optimism' - Daily Telegraph

'a surprisingly entertaining state-of-the-nation drama'- The Stage

'mischievous without being strident, combining pensiveness and wry humour' - Evening Standard

'sharp yet generous-spirited... [Hope] earns its final glow of optimism by being a critical, hard-edged play that is not a cynical one... it's rather beautiful' - The Times

'Jack Thorne’s play about local authority cuts could not be more timely: what is equally important is that it entertains even as it offers a call to arms... [Hope] is part of a valuable tradition in combining the residual optimism of David Hare with the preoccupation with process of David Edgar. But it exists on its own terms and is particularly good on edgy personal relationships... it resonantly lives up to its title' - Guardian

Genres: Plays

111 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2014

About the author

Jack Thorne (born 6 December 1978) is an English screenwriter and playwright.

Born in Bristol, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins, Cast-offs, This Is England '86, This Is England '88, This Is England '90, The Fades, The Last Panthers and the feature film The Scouting Book for Boys. He currently lives in London.

Reviews

[Livinginthecastle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always found political plays to be a bit clunky. Hope is a laudable 'what if' play, which poses more questions than it answers. What would happen if the council refused to take the budget cuts, well not much really, they just send someone who will do the cuts and perhaps more brutally. There are numerous human interest characters the son, ex wife and father to add depth to what is essentially a dramatised online comments argument typically found on the Guardian website.

As a former council worker I think this play is missing a trick at lambasting the overpaid civil servant council chief executives.

But overall it's all a bit meh reflecting perhaps UK politics where there's no easy 'get rid of the Tories and elect so-so' answer, no one knows what to do and perhaps as the play suggests no really cares. We are all just trying to keep going and we will help when we can.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read but I wouldn't say it had any mindblowing or emotional moments.

[Henry Fosdike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hope is a drama focusing on the members of a small town council who struggle to make the funding cuts required by the coalition government.

It played in 2013 and as a result is already out of date when it comes to mentioning key politicians names but is perhaps more relevant now than when it was first staged. It's an interesting drama but never approaches brilliance. Still a good read however.