Yes, Prime Minister!

It was a pleasure to have once again visited with Barnes Community Players (BCP) and this time enjoy their production of ‘Yes, Prime Minister’.  Written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, ‘Yes Minister’ and latterly ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ was a hugely popular satirical comedy that ran throughout the 1980s.

The sitcom is nothing short of pure joy, however, because it is one of the finest and most intelligent productions ever made. When attempting to stage one of the best-known TV comedies the demands on the set, actors and director are huge. Despite knowing that they are going to see a play, the audience so often expect to see the same actors who played the parts 40 years ago.  Against this steep backdrop, the cast and production team at BCP were certainly taking on another formidable challenge…

Governing with a threadbare majority there is a crisis weekend at Chequers! In the age of 24-hour news, with a divided cabinet, a sinking pound and the potential collapse of a European Council conference things seem bleak. Rescue seems to be on-hand when an oil-rich central Asian state offers a £10tn loan to build a pipeline that will zigzag through the whole of Europe. The deal, however, is thrown into disarray when the country's foreign secretary asks the British government to supply female entertainment. How to respond to this request becomes even more farcical with the prospect of deploying a helicopter to transport call-girls from Soho to the lawn at Chequers!

Audiences think that blundering actors and staged pandemonium is so easy to present, when in fact the timing and movement need constant repetition to become convincing. The whole cast must work together, anticipating every line and being armed with their reply. An incredibly difficult show to perform but this cast did an excellent job here. To that end, I didn’t hear a single prompt – well done everyone!

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