Sarah Helm, journalist turned playwright and wife of Tony Blair's Chief of Staff looks at what it means to stick to your convictions and your husband.
A picture of politically charged domesticity is at the heart of Sarah Helm's “fictionalised memoir”, Loyalty. But while she uses the first half to give a brilliantly evocative depiction of the personal fallout and frustration of a life lived almost in office, the second half is her own made-up, implausible notion of what really drove us to war in Iraq. Although it's supposed to be a drama, the play throws up over-simplified villains and heroes and the men they manage to fool in an irritatingly straightforward way.
The story follows Laura, the partner of Tony Blair's Chief of Staff Nick, as she simultaneously runs a household, attends dinners a No.10, opposes the war and takes notes on confidential conversations. Here Helm's writing really shines. She creates a likeable, earnest, fallible character who struggles for integrity through an emotional and political gauntlet. Her best scenes are the ones that seem the most organic. At one point Laura sits in the kitchen decorating a child's birthday cake, discussing the little-known personal habits of Tony Blair with the hired help who has also gleaned uncomfortable little nuggets of information from Nick.
But too often Helm's script feels self-indulgent. Laura punctuates her scenes by turning to the audience to share an anecdote of a particularly difficult time when her husband's place in office and his blind loyalty to Blair proved hurtful or put her at risk. These anecdotes don't spring naturally from the script, they don't add anything new to the character or the story, and feel like an unnecessary plea for sympathy. Without them there's ample opportunity to understand the times her characters feel like pawns, invited into the loop as and when Blair pleases.
Blair she uses as a great but obvious source of comedy, and Patrick Baladi keeps his quirks well-timed without being over the top. Nick – a measured, astute Lloyd Owen – manages to be at his beck and call while upholding a presence at home. Helm makes a point of his remembering his kid's birthday, cleaning up after himself and doing the dishes. Maybe he'd be a cliché if he didn't, but it does feel like she's making a statement. The character of Laura has the potential to be a meaty enough part for someone like Maxine Peake but the second half of the play turns her simply into a goodie opposite some baddies, and those monologues make her seem wasted in this role.
Loyalty is an entertaining play with an interesting premise, but the script doesn't deliver consistently enough. The acting and the humour, however, might just make up for it – but only just.
Image: Maxine Peake in Loyalty by Manuel Harlan
Loyalty runs at Hampstead Theatre until 13th August
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