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Cahoots Theatre Company in association with Park Theatre presents the World Première of

Dead Sheep

by Jonathan Maitland

"Margaret Thatcher [is] terrifying as she manipulates and bullies her cabinet colleagues to turn them into her own puppets in a taut and absorbing new play, Dead Sheep." ★★★★ The Stage

 

"Even those who reviled Thatcher will be moved, appalled and astonished." The Spectator

"...this fine, and often very funny, debut play by former BBC reporter Jonathan Maitland. Nallon is brilliant. It’s not just the voice that is uncanny, the walk, the glare, every gesture brings [Thatcher] back to life. " ★★★★ Independent 

"James Wilby as Geoffrey Howe gives him a handsome, romantic edge not often accorded to politicans and makes the sub-plot of his solid and enduring marriage to determined feminist Elspeth (Jill Baker, spot on), deputy head of the Equal Opportunities Commision and a persistent thorn in the Thatcher flesh, both fascinating and endearing." ★★★★ Londonist

 "Spitting Image’s Steve Nallon as Thatcher's dignified performance subtly evokes Thatcher’s formidably cultivated emotional isolation and remorseless grip on the men around her. Even when Nallon isn’t on stage, you can taste in the air Thatcher’s extraordinary, icy power."  The Telegraph

"the other actors nimbly, entertainingly narrate and take diverse roles: Graham Seed is a strong Gow, John Wark a mischievously lisping Brian Walden, and Tim Wallers a blustering Bernard Ingham and a gloriously camp, offensive Alan Clark, bringing whoops of delight from those with 25-year political memories."  ★★★★ Libby Purves, Theatre Cat

_The true story of how Mrs Thatcher, once the most powerful woman in the western world, was brought down by her one time friend and political soul mate. 

It is 1989 and a seemingly invincible Prime Minister has sacked Geoffrey Howe, her Foreign Secretary.  She apparently had nothing to fear from him: his speaking skills had,  famously, been compared to those of a dead sheep. But, A YEAR LATER,  inspired by his wife Elspeth – whose relationship with Thatcher was notoriously frosty - Howe overcame his limitations to destroy Mrs Thatcher with one of the great political speeches. The staging of Dead Sheep, a drama tinged with tragedy and comedy, coincides with the 25th anniversary of Howe's assassination of his leader. Its themes - loyalty, love, political morality and Britishness -  are as relevant today as they were a quarter of a century ago.

Directed by Ian Talbot (former Artistic Director of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) with Steve Nallon (Spitting Image) as Margaret Thatcher. 
 

[Image copwright: Darren Bell]