Written and performed
by Pip Utton
The Street Theatre to
9 February 2017
Review by Len Power 7
February 2017
While Winston Churchill lay dying in England in 1965, I was
on school holidays with relatives in Sydney.
As bulletins on his deteriorating condition were issued in the news, I
was puzzled and shocked by my aunt’s anger about the man and the attention he
was receiving. In her view he was a mass
murderer with no redeeming qualities.
Pip Utton’s monodrama about Churchill doesn’t flinch from
addressing this view held by many as a result of the failed Gallipoli campaign
in World War One. It is intensely moving
in the play to see and hear Churchill’s personal reflections on this military
disaster.
In the play, Big Ben chimes and strikes 13. Once a year for just over an hour the statues
of the great statesmen in Parliament Square, London, England, come alive again.
Winston Churchill descends from his
plinth to indulge himself in three of his greatest pleasures: a glass of
Scotch, a cigar and listening to himself talk.
He talks of his childhood, his parents, his education, his
army life, his marriage, his painting, writing and bricklaying, his appetites
and, of course, he talks of his many years at the centre of the world political
stage especially during two world wars.
Pip Utton’s play and performance as Churchill is very
entertaining, often quite funny and at times very moving. Instead of being just a remote political
figure in TV documentaries, Pip Utton achieves an amazing intimacy with his
audience as he provides this opportunity for us to spend time with the human
being behind the media image. The
highlight of the play was Utton’s delivery of Churchill’s World War Two ‘Finest
Hour’ speech.
This is a great opportunity to see one of Great Britain’s
finest performers of monodramas. Pip
Utton will also be giving his performance as Margaret Thatcher from Friday 10th
February during his stay at The Street Theatre.
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program from 9am on
Saturdays as well as on other selected Artsound programs.
