Vicious satire at Leamington theatre

POWER and money is all that matters in the game that British journalism has become in this hard-hitting satire by Howard Brenton and David Hare.

Full of wicked and detestable characters, the ruthless empire ruled by a Rupert Murdoch-esque South African entrepreneur is portrayed as fierce and unforgiving. This is a dog-eat-dog world where even the most principled reporters are in danger of falling victim to the sleazy greed machine in which their own ego takes over.

Director Gordon Vallins points out that Pravda - which, meaning ‘the truth’, is named after the ironically-titled Russian 1980s communist newspaper - is a play of its time. Set in the 1980s, the back-drop of the reign of Margaret Thatcher, the miners’ strike and the rise of Murdoch is all too prevelant in the themes of the capitalist way of life taking control and angering the masses. But with the Leveson Inquiry in our news pages today and the growing rebellion against bankers’ bonuses and cuts in the face of austerity, it is also a play of our time - and although the characters are caricatures, we cannot but help think about how all walks of life are increasingly being controlled by how much money can be made out of them. The fear of losing our free and honourable press is very real.

David Pinner’s characterisation of the delightfully evil villain Lambert Le Roux is fantastic - both in the way he delivers his lines and in the imposing way he holds himself, with chest thrust out and glint of disdain in his eye. The Faustian corruption of young reporter-turned editor Andrew May is also admirably put across by Alex Comer.

The only flaw in the production was a curious decision by Vallins to display an uncommented-on slide about Murdoch at the beginning of the second act. It was needless and the satire would have been far more effective if left for the audience to judge for themselves.

Sundari Cleal