When Blair had Bush and Bunga

Patrick Ryecart
Pleasance Courtyard

When Blair had Bush and Bunga

When Blair had Bush and Bunga is distinguished actor Patrick Ryecart's first attempt at writing and directing for the stage.

In conceiving a play set in Barbados with dramatis personae including Mr and Mrs Tony Blair, George W Bush, Silvio Berlusconi and Alastair Campbell, one imagines that Mr Ryecart had sophisticated political satire in mind.

Somewhere along the way, this morphed into something closer to 1960s Carry On type farce. That is because all of the political heavyweights are portrayed as caricatures.

As a result, even when the politicos are hatching the imaginary weapons of mass destruction as an excuse for invading Iraq, the hard-edged political comedy is missing.

What is left is a bunch of irascible, sex-obsessed jokers with no political nous and combined brainpower that could not run a 6 watt light bulb.

There are some good jokes but many more that are limp and the whole feels dated, while the personalities are too clichéd to support 90 minutes, scratching around for comic situations and failing to find enough.

Reviewer: Philip Fisher

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