The New Real

The New Real directed by Holly Race Roughan. Photo by Ikin Yum.

The New Real, by David Edgar, RSC, The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, running until 2 November.

Review by Charles Barker

An election is looming in an un-named central European state and two rival American political strategists are flying in to help get their candidates elected.

In an extra twist the pair are former business and romantic partners and each one knows intimately how the other works. Now they must use all their dubious skills to undermine each other and win. Victory will go to the most ruthless.

Larry Yeates and Rachel Moss, played convincingly by Lloyd Owen and Martina Laird, understand  exactly the “demographic” they are aiming at. They know how to manipulate the messages being fed to the voters, they even know how to manipulate their clients. They do that so well that they come to seem more in control of the process than the candidates themselves.

Lloyd Owen as Larry Yeates, and Martina Laird as Rachel Moss, talking tactics. Photo by Ikin Yum.

But one of the candidates learns his lessons too well and veers off message. Suddenly, everything changes. A political Frankenstein monster is unleashed and democracy plummets towards authoritarianism and possibly dictatorship.

This is the terrifying new real explored in David Edgar’s play – a murky world of disinformation, where lies are presented as truth, and where elections are about winning power at all costs with the needs, hopes and dreams of the electorate of very little – if any – consequence.

The New Real. Photo by Ikin Yum.

And his message is that this is no dystopian vision of the future, but the here and now. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the un-named country which could be seen as Hungary, the rise of Donald Trump, even the Brexit referendum campaign – we are living in The New Real of leaders feeding their people lies, and of unscrupulous strategists and politicians manipulating elections, says Edgar, and we’d better be vigilant if we want to safeguard what’s left of democracy.

If this all sounds terribly serious and worthy, it’s not. The play gets off to a slightly slow start but hits its stride after the interval when the rivalry of the two electoral gurus takes off.  There’s some humour and music along the way – even the Eurovision Song Contest is made to serve a political purpose.

Roderick Hill as presidential candidate Petr Lutsevic, and Ziggy Heath as Oleg Sogolyev, manipulating their message. Photo by Ikin Yum.

Directed by Holly Race Roughan, the action takes place on a virtually bare stage set out in traverse style with the audience on both sides of the action, and giant TV screens are used cleverly to give us historical context and to augment the on-stage action in places. The intimate setting of the new-look The Other Place is perfect for the piece and the cast, most of whom take on multiple roles, are excellent.

For tickets go to: rsc.org.uk