Handbagged
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Cititour.com Review
Britain’s two world leaders – its Queen and its Prime Minister – sit opposite each other in facing chairs, sipping tea, making small talk and often barely hiding their disdain for each other. Yes, this set-up sounds much like Peter Morgan’s Broadway hit “The Audience,” but it’s actually Moira Buffini’s “Handbagged,” now at 59E59 Theaters under Indhu Rubasingham’s top-notch direction. This two-hour excursion (expanded in 2013 from an earlier one-act) proves to be a smarter, cleverer, funnier and ultimately more frightening take on English and American politics than Morgan’s work, in part by focusing exclusively on the 11 years when Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II uneasily co-existed.
And while there are just those two women in the chair, there are actually four women onstage: the younger and older versions of Elizabeth (the equally excellent Beth Hylton and Anita Carey) and Mrs. Thatcher (the truly splendid Kate Fahy and Susan Lynskey, each giving Meryl Streep a run for her money). Breaking the so-called fourth wall – in fact, every wall imaginable -- Buffini has the ladies often contradict their alter ego, claiming a certain conversation never happened, or commenting on the other woman’s behavior, constantly highlighting the differences in the pair’s personal and political outlooks, as women, mothers, and especially world leaders.
Ultimately, Elizabeth fares better, showing her compassion for all of her people and having a firmer grip on the art of diplomacy – although Buffini slyly reminds us that the monarchy is a mostly ceremonial job andthat until 1993, the world’s wealthiest woman never even contributed a cent to her own country’s economy.
Meanwhile, Thatcher is painted as the true “Iron Lady,” so entrenched in her notions of conservative philosophy (economically and politically) and so sure of her stance in all matters that it’s not surprising (even if you don’t know history) that she eventually lost her footing completely. Indeed, Thatcher was so concerned with “history” – she even argued virulently against the reunification of Germany fearing another World War – and ideology that she rarely examined (or cared about) the human consequences of her decisions.
Buffini is also smart enough to know that 11 years of such a turbulent period is a lot to get through in such a short time, and, at times, she can’t totally avoid the play occasionally feeling like a Wikipedia entry. Nonetheless, she raises many of the era’s most important – and most sensitive -- issues, from the miner’s strike to the Falklands Islands war to the creation of Zimbabwe, through snapshot speeches (some spoken directly to the audience) made be a rotating group of secondary characters, all played by the wonderfully versatile Cody Leroy Wilson and John Lescaut. (Wilson, consistently superb, even dons drag to play former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan.)
Most importantly, Buffini not-so-subtly drives home the point that Thatcher’s ultra-nationalist and arguably racist or classist policies, many supported by (or stolen from) her good pal Ronald Reagan, have led to the divisiveness so prevalent today in the UK and the US. (And yes, there are a couple of jabs at Donald Trump, who has clearly sown what Reagan wrought!) Indeed, for audiences watching the play today, that old adage often rings in our ears even louder than any of Buffini’s dialogue: “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/handbagged/
Open/Close Dates
Opening 6/12/2019
Closing 6/30/2019
Theatre Info
59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th St
New York, NY 10022
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