James Corden is let down by script and direction in The Constituent at the Old Vic – review
The Constituent, Old Vic, starring James Corden review and star rating: ★★
What to do after a cancellation? Tread the boards, darling! James Corden’s US TV show host career faltered last year after allegations of bullying behaviour came out against the actor, in particular that he was rude to waiting staff in restaurants. So what better than to return to Blighty and take to the stage? In the industry it’s a well-established path back to cache, to prove you are a serious actor, not only willing to take a pay cut but to work hard. But The Constituent is no One Man, Two Guvnors, the barnstorming satire Corden lead at the National Theatre in 2011.
Corden is largely on auto-pilot as Alec, a working class sparky who fits a panic button in the office of his local politician, Monica. He has enough cheeky charisma that she warms to him, the two sitting down to chew the fat. But he has PTSD after serving in the army and is being kept from seeing his child by his former partner, and on anti-psychotic medication when he expresses murderous thoughts towards her new family.
James Corden shines in final emotional scenes, but perhaps that is where The Constituent should have begun
The theme – the relationship between constituents and MPs in the wake of Jo Cox and extremism – is an interesting one. MPs must come across as grounded and human in their constituencies even if the other half of their week is spent in the much less relatable Palace of Westminster. But this play isn’t the vehicle to carry stirring questions about MP safety and how that effects their relationship with their constituents.
Joe Penhall’s script is full of jokes that don’t land and the set up is clunky and hard to believe. I wanted to see a wider profile of constituents and their issues rather than this one explosive case, and the play is debased by its central idea: it’s understandable why a politician would distance themselves from a man on the brink of psychosis who is making terrible threats, and Alec and Monica’s interactions get less and less believable as the (overlong) one act play develops. At one point the MP – seemingly polite and professional – screams “leave me the fuck alone” to Alec down the phone in a conversation that just never would have happened.
Matthew Warchus’ direction feels melodramatic, plunging into darkness at scene changes in a way that kills the drama. In these moments, he has characters spitting lines at one another as if they’re on EastEnders. The police get a good old wringing, but Zachary Hart’s bent cop Mellor is an infuriatingly cartoonish villain, his lines feeling cringe-inducingly on-the-nose. He’s even less believable than Monica’s relationship with Alec.
Corden shines towards the end during one moving scene where he gets one of the play’s best lines, “every man I know is a victim of violence and abuse.” Monica, shirt buttoned down and shoulders open, is at her most human: as the play ends, it feels as if the drama might begin.
The Constituent, opening the week prior to the general election, only adds to our collective political confusion and fatigue rather than cutting through it.
The Constituent starring James Corden plays at the Old Vic until 10 August
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