I agree that it is interesting in parts, but in all honestly I was very disappointed by this even the staging seemed poor - Lost in France
03 Nov 09
As the review states, the opening line is "This isn't a play, it's a story". Unfortunately it isn't a story either, it has no plot or characterisation, and is played at one-note throughout. This is a TV documentary of talking heads without respite or levity. The excellent ensemble cast is wasted as there is no value to having this on a stage (as opposed to a newspaper). Come on NT, commission someone else to tackle these topics imaginatively, as David Hare's yearly "how can I write a play about this" is wearing very thin... - dgr1
28 Oct 09
This is a play which engages the viewer/listener more and more as it goes on. After the first few minutes, during which I was certain this was going to be ady-as-dust lecture, I was totally hooked - even if I didn't fully understand much of the complex economics. Hare's device of showing himself in the process of gathering information for the writing of the play is a very clever one, for it seems to put him on a par with the audience, who are also there to learn. The very simple staging and the projected backdrop add to the atmosphere of the lecture hall. I came away feeling that I know a little more about the complexities of the situation which led to economic meltdown, but hardly reassured about the capabilities of those who are seeking to put us back on track. A wholly excellent cast, led by Anthony Calf as the Author, coped admirably with a difficult text. Special mention should go to a charismatic Bruce Myers as George Soros - even if he did fluff his lines in a couple of places. - sc
27 Oct 09
The first words of The Power of Yes are, "This isn't a play" and the author is correct - it's verbatim theatre or a piece of dramatised investigative journalism. But because the subject matter is so important and is made compelling by a superb cast and pacy direction it's invigorating and sometimes even exciting and certainly stands comparison with the flashier Enron. Predictably Hare has identified the main "villains" as Alan Greenspan, George W Bush and the New Labour government, particularly Gordon Brown. He's probably right but it's a weakness that none are allowed to put their side of the story. Hare does not attempt to provide a definitive answer to the crisis or an alternative future model but this is an excellent piece of theatre. - David Baxter
27 Oct 09
Can I have 3.5 please? David Hare attempts to help us understand the credit crunch by staging 110 minutes of interviews with those that should know, from a 20-something Bosnian economics teacher through the head and former head of the FSA to George Soros and by-and-large he succeeds. It isn’t as sexy as Enron’s similar single issue story, and does occasionally become dull, but it some ways this served its subject better by not trivialising it. On a bare stage with just projections and a blackboard, the 20 actors effectively play 24 real life people. It’s all in the editing and construction of course, and as with earlier ‘verbatim’ pieces, Hare demonstrates he is a master. - Gareth James
23 Oct 09
Well, YES it isn't a play as such, but if you maintain your concentration, don't have a drink beforehand, and are prepared to listen then this is a very interesting "lecture" on what went wrong with the world's economy in 2007/2008. But for someone who is married to a very rich fashion designer and can best be described as a champagne socialist he seems to protest a little too much for his own good. As for his assertion that capitalism is dead, I am reminded of Mark Twain's remarks. Mr Hare's message, and perhaps not the one he intends, in this well constructed and informative piece of theatre is don't judge too harshly the sins of others, look at the beam.....etc. We all wanted the gravy train never to end. How many of us extended our mortgages, traded up to a bigger better flat or house and loaded up our credit cards? To simply bash the banks is absurd. Governments must take some responsibility, if for the only reason that they always want to take the credit when things are going "well". Banks began to employ Retailers as managing directors/chairmen, people who had no idea about banking but knew how to grow a business. Unfortunately they were let loose in the candy store, unrestrained, for too long and the results we will live with for years to come. A lesson from this that should go beyond the financial sector concerns hospitals. Should they be run by consultants, doctors and nurses rather than so called "administrators"? As I said Mr Hare is an interesting writer, perhaps he should turn his attention now to the NHS? - rds
18 Oct 09
This was surely a play that theatre land was waiting for. Yet somehow David Hare succeed on one level but also failed to deliver on another. "Not a play, but a story" he declared in the opening moments as the audience realises that once again they are watching Hare as himself albeit played by Hare lookalike Anthony Calf. Indeed Hare managed beautifully to explain the intricacies of the financial disaster with Hare asking the questions we all needed to ask. Where this was a disappointment was the staging. Yes it was simple – 20 actors walking on and off an all but bare stage to explain to the playwright what had happened. What I wanted to know was why I had paid the best part of £30 to hear something which could have been delivered just as well on radio. Indeed at many points in the play David Hare used a clichéd technique employed by lazy radio script writers in the form of simply introducing a speaker (and yes I do mean speaker) as “George Soros (or whoever) again”
That said, it was an entertaining evening. As Michael Billington highlighted in his review, David Hare introduced some lovely touches such as pointing out that those much photographed boxes Lehman Brothers (ex) employees were carrying out of the building contained nothing more significant than sandwiches and Milky Bars which their canteen credit cards still owed them. They were too upmarket to call it looting. Special mention though to Bob Crowley and the design team who invented some innovative effects to highlight the intracte problems of finance.
Does one expect more from theatre? No new playwright would have had this work staged yet if nothing else it does explain the financial crisis particularly well.
At the first night audience I spied ex-CBI chief Howard Davies sharing his thoughts with a small huddle. If one wanted to extend the journalism theme, perhaps a second half would have given him the right to reply.
- Nicky Barranger - www.theinterviewonline.co.uk
09 Oct 09
david hare has to compete with some excellent tv programmes that have been put out on this issue over the last 6 months. He managed to make a highly dramatic issue as dull as f*ck. We know most of this stuff anyway from reading the parers. He failed. State subsidised failure. Liked the Warhol image of Fred the Shred though. - Judy
08 Oct 09
Bereft of characterisation, drama and wit. A series of PowerPoint slides of already familiar facts. At one point the David Hare character asks a twenty-something who has worked in a bank for a bit "So you know all this already?" and she replies "Yes". The only clever aspect of the play's conclusion (that the banking bail out is "socialism for the rich") is having the gall to say it in a state subsidised theatre.
- Patronised theatre goer
07 Oct 09
The Power of Yes
At the start of the new David Hare play about the recent world financial crisis, it was explained that 'credit meant trust'. Given the playright's previous credits I thought it would be a worthwhile investment of £25 and trusted him to deliver an entertaining night out at the National Theatre. Sadly the value of your investments can go down as well as up.
All summer the hype was that David Hare was writing a new play and would bring us his take on what had gone wrong with the banks. At some point during his research he must have realised that in the time allowed it was going to be too much to deliver 'a new play', so all we were treated to was 'a story', a parade of talking heads representing some of those involved, giving their version of what happened - in effect Hare's research notes. There was nothing new, nothing that hadn't been dissected and discussed in the newspapers and in the current crop of tv documentaries.
So bland were these characters that everytime they walked on another actor announced who they were, even if they had appeared several times already. No light, no shade, and as one woman observed on leaving the theatre 'not very dramatic' - an understatement if ever there was one. At first I thought it was just a device to set up the main players but it began to dawn after 10 minutes that we were in for two hours of what amounted to little more than a lecture - with no interval. Perhaps they feared how many might not return. One man in my row was asleep and a friend also admitted to 'just listening' so she closed her eyes too.
Perhaps, having recently been dazzled by the superb production of Lucy Prebble's Enron, with its fabulous imagery and taut script bringing to life an astonishing scandal, I was expecting too much, however, to witness such NT stalwarts as Paul Freeman, Simon Williams, Jeff Rawle and Anthony Calf merely recounting a string of events seemed a waste. They could, no doubt, identify with some of the bankers they were portraying, as it was indeed, money for old rope for people with their talents.
I considered going back to the theatre to queue, a la Northern Rock, to see if I could get the two hours of my life back, but applying my mantra of 'your first loss is your best loss' decided it wasn't worth it. Perhaps David Hare should remember that adage when next asked to write a play - if he can't deliver say so up front, so in these cash-conscious times we can choose our investments in theatre tickets wisely. The Power of Yes - Just Say No!
- Frequent theatre goer
07 Oct 09
Here we have a play about David Hare researching The Play. In it he interviews many leading financiers, journalists and politicians to help him understand the causes of the financial crisis. We are told about subprime mortgages, NINJAs and derivative trading. The problem is that anyone who has read a broadsheet newspaper or watched Newsnight/Panorama/The Love of Money will already know as much as the interviewees tell us in this play. Unfortuneately it is about 6 months too late in getting to the stage. The human stories were barely scratched upon which is a real shame. However, the dialogue is snappy, and provokes the occasional half hearted laugh from the audience (everybody loves a good banker joke after all). Some of the acting was fantastic, particuarly Jemima Rooper and whoever played Howard Davies, and the set and multimedia designers should be complemented also. - Occasional Theatre Goer
