Yesterday evening I went to the Everyman Theater in Cheltenham with Mum & Dad to see the stage production of Yes, Prime Minister.
I’ve had the full DVD box set of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister for a couple of years now after I was given it for Christmas; I love the way that although they were made nearly 30 years ago its amazing how many of the issues which appear are still on the political agenda these days.
So when I picked up a leaflet for the Everyman (I found it at university) a couple of months ago and saw that the stage production was coming to Cheltenham, I immediately e-mailed Mum and suggested that we go, as I know she was looking at finding something at a local theater to go and see.
The stage production was written by the writers of the original series – Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn – so everything that was great about the original television shows makes its way in to the stage production.
Its very cleverly written – according to the programme, it was first performed in 2010. It must have been written a few years ago for it to have made it on to stage then, yet the writers have managed to bring it up to date with references to current news stories: Greece, the Euro, Global Warming, cuts to BBC funding, phone hacking, the Daily Mail, the coalition… and everything going on in (and I quote from the programme), ‘the instability of countries whose names end in ‘stan’‘.
Actors Graham Seed, Michael Simkins and Clive Hayward play their respective roles of Prime Minister Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley very well… there were times when I thought it was just like watching my DVDs!
So to conclude, a great evening, and the Everyman is a nice little theater too. If only Yes, Prime Minister could make a return to TV one day… 😛
Now, I leave you with my favourite Yes, Prime Minister scene…