Hell yes I am tough enough – review

This hilarious yet unsettling satirical political piece by Ben Alderton at Park Theatre, London, gives us a manic, messy and egotistical portrayal of what was allegedly happening in party politics left and right in Britain before the referendum was announced. This play can be seen as the prologue to the reality we are now in; the how we got here so to speak!

While the word ‘Brexit’ wasn’t mentioned throughout the play, there are references to the looming threat a Nigel ‘Garage’ poses to mainstream party politics.

There are several references to the unverified “Piggate” scandal, an anecdote that was reported by Michael Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott in their unauthorised biography of David Cameron, Call Me Dave. Was this an attempt by them to weaken the then prime minister to embarrass or derail him so he would call a referendum on the UK leaving the EU?

Patrick (played by Mikhail Sen) is a political consultant of Indian origin. He rides in on his bicycle full of hope and a naive admiration for these leaders. He soon realises, however, that everything is not as rosy at it appears. It is all about propaganda, ridicule, hacking, back-stabbing and leaking. Policies have very little to do with their self-serving plans. The NHS is referred to as PMS in the play.

We meet the egotistical Oxbridge ‘toff’ prime minister David Carter (played by Ben Alderton) who runs the blue party and the rather pathetic pandering deputy pm Nick Clogg (played by James Bryant) who sold out his own policies to get into a coalition government with Carter.

Carter’s foul-mouthed, gin swigging “Thatcher’s apprentice” campaign manager, Glyniss (played by Annie Tyson) is really the woman behind Carter’s rise to power. Mostly she treats Carter like her little ‘bitch’. She is also doesn’t have a great deal of respect for his secretary (Venice Van Someren) a clear rival to her.

The leader of the opposition party Ned Contraband (played by Ben Hood) is being pulled in two directions by his vegan hippy mentor Will (Michael Edwards) and his rather tough central leaning campaign manager (Cassandra Hercules). His campaign manager reminds him at various times how he screwed over his much more capable brother.

Throughout the play, a grim reaper Corbz (Edward Halsted) appears from the shadows warning them of the doom and gloom to come. His cryptic messages just seem to baffle David Carter as they offer no actual solution.

This is a must see play for anyone that wants to know how we got ourselves into the mess we are in today. For someone that only became interested in politics after the Brexit vote and Donald Trump election, this play has me googling what actually was happening back then.

What I get from this play is it is time for the young people to show leadership and take the mantle.

Hell, Yes I’m tough enough runs from 24 Apr – 18 May at the Park Theatre in London. To book click here.