Labour of Love

A play set in a Labour Party constituency office "up north" doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs but this comedy really packs in the laughs.

We join the story in the Corbyn present and near the end then we are taken back over 27 years in a series of scenes all taking part on election nights in the same office.  After the interval the story moves forward again over the same nights filling in the rest of the story and ending up back in the resent at the end of the tale. The time travel is very effective with the set (well, two rotating identical sets), propos, costmes and even wigs, changing to reflect the times. Scene changes are covered by video of the political people and events of the era helping to place us immediately in the right period. Clever and effective.

The core of the story is the fiery relationship between Martin Freeman's character, the MP, and Tamsin Greig's office and campaign manager. The remaining characters are really on the outkirts of the story though Rachael Stirling's out-of-place wife is an excellent characterisation. Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig do a great job of keeping the relationship interesting and moveing the story forward and Tamsin's comedy timing is a complete delight to watch.

James Graham's play is not deep and meaningful but it is hugely enjoyable and very funny - a great piece of entertainment