Plays: 2: This House / The Angry Brigade / The Vote / Monster Raving Loony

by James Graham

The second collection of plays from eminent playwright James Graham, bringing together four of his state-of-the-nation plays.The volume includes the following plays, alongside an introduction by the House (2012) explores Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament through a combination of wit and waspish dialogue, comedy and political comment, and historical and contemporary concerns.The Angry Brigade (2014) takes a look at the story behind the Angry Brigade - a British anarchist group who carried out a series of bomb attacks between 1970 and 1972.The Vote (2015) looks at what happens in Britain on election night through the eyes of those at the polling station. Set in a fictional London polling station, Graham's play dramatises the final ninety minutes before the polls close in the 2015 general election.Monster Raving Loony (2016) explores the life and exploits of Screaming Lord Sutch to examine the state of the nation and Britain's post-war identity crisis. It tells the story of Sutch through a cavalcade of comic characters from music hall to Monty Python, panto to Partridge.

Genres: Plays

392 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2016

About the author

James Graham is a multi award-winning playwright and screenwriter.

His play This House gained critical acclaim, enjoyed a sell-out run at the National Theatre's Olivier in 2013 and its 2017 West End revival was Olivier-nominated. It was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010's by Methuen Drama.

James created theatre history when his two plays Ink, about the early days of Rupert Murdoch, and Labour of Love, a romantic political comedy, played in theatres next to each other in the West End in 2017. James won an Olivier award in 2018 for Labour of Love and Ink transferred to Broadway in 2019, receiving six Tony award nominations.

James' play The Vote (Donmar Warehouse) aired in real time on TV in the final 90 minutes of the 2015 polling day and was BAFTA-nominated. His most recent television film, Brexit: An Uncivil War (Channel 4/HBO) is nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually only read two of the plays here - This House, and The Vote - which doesn't have a stand-alone citation here on GR, so am using this as proxy - which is entirely apropos, since the play deals with the shenanigans at a polling place in the final 90 minutes of a UK election. It played at the Donmar Warehouse for two weeks, and then the final performance was broadcast live on TV at the very time the play is supposedly taking place - ending just at 10 PM when the polls close. It subsequently was revised and performed as a one-night-only benefit in the election of 2019.

Having been a poll worker once, back a decade ago (and once DEFINITELY was enough!), I found much of this to be familiar territory - yet rendered fresh and extremely wittily by Graham, the foremost dramatic chronicler of politics fact-based theatre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv27b...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...

[Misty Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something a bit different. I was lucky enough to see this brilliant play [This House] at the Minerva, Chichester, a few seasons ago. I only went because the lovely Nathaniel Parker was in the cast BUT this has to be the best play I have ever seen/read/been in! An absolutely brilliant piece of theatre. I wondered whether the words alone [i.e. the script] would carry the same magic, or whether the inventive staging at the Minerva had embellished the experience, but the answer is a huge Yes - it is 80% script. As someone who lived through this period of political history the play brings it all very much to life and captures the very real characters behind the story, the tensions and machinations which shaped the outcome and the launching of the divisive years which followed. James Graham's Introduction to this volume is also fascinating as he explains how he put it together. I am saving the other three plays for another time!

[Thomas Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read 'The Vote' in this collection, but without a separate listing on Goodreads, I'm using this copy in its place (though I have no doubt I'll be returning to some of Graham's other plays in the future). A fantastic and fast-paced play looking at the ins and outs of the final ninety minutes of a general election, set in a London polling station. Witty and humorous - but yet still, at heart, driving its message and stressing the importance of voting. Read this alongside the recorded TV version on More4 - highly recommended.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i LOVVEDED these, easy 5 stars omG

1. monster raving loony
a big slay, i enjoyed it a lot !!! what an icon tbh

2. the angry brigade
i have done a full review for this bc i read it separately first, did it for my a level scripted and omg i love this script. so much. first half so funny and engaging tbh (although the ending is slightly weird and not for me) the SECOND HALF i have reread many times for my a level and genuinely think it’s a work of genius???? i love it so much. so so clever.

3. this house
had to come back to this in dec 2024 bc i finally read it!! the prologue bit was too difficult for me to read going in blind (will be watching on NT at home asap) but i got so invested in these characters!!! loved the bit with ann telling that one tory to get out what a queen 😭 gave me such an urge to find out about the intricacies of 1970s parliament?? and crazy how it makes you root for them to hold on just a little longer, then kind of makes you question why even quite political people (like moi) aren’t as invested in the current governments as in these people. seeing politicians in flesh & blood & all their real humanness is un der rated (and, as all graham plays, super funny/enjoyable)

4. the vote
i had such FUN reading this on my little tube journeys. actually hillarious + i’m RAGGGING that i can’t find the recording of it anywhere ???? if anyone knows where there is one pls tell me xoxoxo

100/10 i love james graham plays so much, pls can they make a third volume pls pls 🙏🙏🙏🙏