Review: Handbagged at LOWRY is ‘a playful peek into power, politics and the personalities of Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II’

Moira Buffini’s Handbagged focuses on the relationship between two women in power.

We navigate moments in history, such as the Poll Tax riots, The Miner’s Strike, and Section 28 through the eyes of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher.

Everything here is meta, so we have two Queens, two Maggies and supporting characters who discuss the actual play and the Queen keeps suggesting that an interval is required to break things up.

Hangbagged at LOWRY

Whereas The Iron Lady strongly believes that the show must go on, reflecting the reality of a PM who refused to give up, even when the knives were out and her party had called time on her tenure.

By the time we reflect on the relationship between the first female PM and Ronald Reagan, we can draw parallels to the here and now, and like this production – we have had two Donald Trumps. The first season was angry and frantic and it was taken off the air, much to his anger and toys thrown out of the pram.

And his season has since been renewed which means other leaders have been forced to fawn over him. When we look back at the Reagan years here, we are reminded of the actor, and the ‘show’ which masked some of the cruel decisions made at The White House.

Section 28

Section 28 is covered through a supporting character who voices their disgust at this silencing of people, which made them almost powerless. But as the title suggests, this is a light and breezy romp which does not always dwell on the policies, however stultifying they were.

We learn that Margaret Thatcher lacked humour, that she spoke in sound bites and that Queen cared more about people and the effect that these policies had on their lives. When the play decides to bite back, and through Thatcher’s responses – she reminds the Queen that she did not pay Poll Tax and was privileged and not voted in, it does come to life. As too often we see the late Queen as Paddington’s pal and a cute old lady in a head scarf, and we are all more complex than that.

Songs are used to move the narrative forward but also to remind us that we are firmly in the 1980’s, so we hear Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence and The Cranberries’ Zombie, complete with handbags and brisk walking, as we gallop through the decade that featured the arrival the Queen of Pop, Madonna – affectionately known as Madge.

Exploring dementia

There is a mention of dementia and how you do not die from this cruel condition, but other complications which offers a much needed poignant moment nestled amongst the slapstick comedy and potted political history. It feels like a missed opportunity not to have an update towards the end, to bring us into the here and now. What is their legacy?

Sarah Moyle and Helen Reuben revel in their roles as the late queen. Prim and proper, as a young woman but always steadfast and sturdy. And playful with a sense of fun and wickedly funny, particularly when on a walkabout.

Emma Ernest and Morag Cross also go beyond what others have done with the Iron Lady. There is a growing frustration and obsession with how she comes across and a disdain for weak men, which is amusingly done. But there is also a desire to be taken seriously which comes across as robotic, especially when delivering unpopular policies, and never rowing back or reflecting.

Breaking the fourth wall

Dennis Herdman and Cassius Konneh play two actors employed to play a variety of male figures throughout these choppy waters of time. They not only break the fourth wall, they kick out down, stepping in and out of a variety of characters. This starts off as fun, but after a while it slows down the pace slightly. They are both brilliant and their precision in capturing the nuances of the likes of Neil Kinnock, Geoffrey Howe and Michael Heseltine raises many a laugh at all the right moments.

Katie Lias’s set design features a huge coin and as a result, you expect o see both sides of it through the personalities of these two iconic women. At times we get light and shade but the piece lacks the depth of Peter Morgan’s The Audience, or the political teeth of Billy Elliot. It is almost as if the play hasn’t got time for the pain.

This is essentially a romp through time and some imagined conversations, as there was much debate at the time on whether these two liked each other or not. And you will leave the theatre feeling entertained and amused.

But when we remember that the Queen said: ‘It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the harsh progress of mankind’, you do wonder what she really thought of some of the controversial and divisive policies that came with Thatcherism.

Tickets for Handbagged at LOWRY

Handbagged is at LOWRY until 22nd March and it can be booked here.