Theatre offers respite from real-life political drama

British playhouses are offering voters an oasis of political drama in the midst of a gridlocked election campaign defined by frustration, squabbles and giveaways.

In contrast to the downbeat electioneering of recent weeks, theatres have staged a diverse and creative array of plays that critique, engage and develop ideas about UK society and politics.

"Drama creates emotionally reflective communities that challenge the unreflective thinking of busy, everyday life," says John Fulljames, associate director of opera at the Royal Opera House.

"Theatre offers a place that is not a direct mirror to the world. The election is being fought in soundbites, so particularly now people need an imaginative place where they can explore a sophisticated argument about the kind of society they want to build."

Mr Fulljames's latest show for the Royal Opera House is Weill's and Brecht's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny , written before the Weimar Republic crumbled under economic strain in the early 1930s.

Textual additions from Fulljames's team have cast a bald light on austerity and prosperity on the UK economy, speaking to the job-rich, wage-poor recovery dogging election campaigns.

"I think the piece is potent today particularly because of its economics . . . the story of economic challenge is that it leads to political change as we're seeing with the rise of small parties here," Mr Fulljames says.

Lucy Beynon and Lisa Jeschke, whose ad hoc performances of David Cameron: A Theatre of Knife Songs enact an electorate fantasy of revenge on the coalition prime minister, take a different position on theatre and politics.

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In 40 minutes of unrelenting, ugly critique of David Cameron's politics, Ms Beynon and Ms Jeschke deconstruct the idea that democratic participation can exist in an environment where voters are "little listeners: what in theatre is embarrassing, clenching and ugly is its poverty, its concrete, proletarian feet".

The makers of Tony's Last Tape - a Nottingham Playhouse production playing in Penge East, London, after a strong run at home - think theatre is important because "there are 'isms' at play in politics right now".

"We are faced with a conflict of ideas and philosophies and theatre is one of the most powerful ways to educate people about these," says playwright Andy Barrett.

Tony's Last Tape is a 75-minute monologue delivered by a navel-gazing, Beckettian Tony Benn, who even in his distracted old age has what Mr Barrett calls the "passion of politicians like Margaret Thatcher, who you can disagree with but who at least stood up for her beliefs. They weren't like politicians you get now."

<>For a voter casting their eyes over theatre listings, the options are numerous and also include The Vote, a Donmar Warehouse play set during the final 90 minutes of balloting in May as well as Who Cares at the Royal Court. The immersive docudrama is based on verbatim interviews with NHS staff and provides an insight into the impact of NHS-related campaigning on healthcare providers.

Some plays have been launched in the hope they can increase engagement. Alexander Devriendt, director of Fight Night at London's Unicorn Theatre, says he is delighted his audience attracted a high proportion of young people. "Theatre is a little part of the chain of discussion," he says.

One young theatregoer at the National says the plays have important messages for political leaders in the last weeks of the campaign. "They speak with more complexity than we can and politicians should hear what they have to say. Many are really good and at the very least they might pick up some tips about how to act."

Additional reporting by Andrew Jack

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