THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT!at Leicester Square Theatre

★★★★

“Lots of drama from prepared scripts, but also lots clever of ad libs from the performers when the heckling from the floor got too intense.”

The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It! is an unusual piece of theatre, but an engaging piece of politics. After a successful debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2023, the show moved to the Leicester Square Theatre in London for a night. Staged as a mock Parliamentary debate, moderated by former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, producer Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, a member of the Scottish Alba Party, and a former actress, has put together an unlikely coalition of performers in The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It!. Presenting the motion “This House believes Brexit is a disaster and must be reversed,” the teams were led by Alex Salmond, leader of Alba for the “Ayes”, and Conservative MP David Davis for the “Noes.” The theatre was packed with a boisterous audience eager to see the participants, and to participate themselves.

It wasn’t until the performers walked on stage that I actually believed these were the people they claimed to be, and not a group of extremely skilled impersonators hired for the evening. Was I right to be skeptical? After all, the Leicester Square Theatre is known for its comedy club presentations, and presentations of classical theatre that tend towards the uproariously outrageous. So when Alex Salmond, businesswoman Gina Miller, and Andrew Marr of LBC Radio, David Davis, MP, Mike Graham of TalkTV, Baroness Claire Fox and John Bercow entered, the moment was, without doubt, a “coup de théâtre.” But wait. There was in fact, a gifted impersonator on hand to step in for Andrew Marr who was still broadcasting when the show began. Later, the same impersonator, Lewis Macleod, stepped in for Mike Graham, when he had to leave for the same reason. Macleod also heckled, very effectively, from the floor, in a variety of characters. These theatrical moments kept the evening moving along, and the audience engaged.

There were also two other participants on either side of the debate, and in many ways—acknowledged by both sides—these were the two most important people on stage. Year 13 students Cora and Dominic, from the Chestnut Grove Academy in South West London, made their debate debuts. As Speaker Bercow observed, after speaking in front of a crowd of five hundred (mostly) strangers, they need never be frightened of public speaking again. Kudos to the students for getting involved, and also for teaching their elders a thing or two about how young people see politics today. Not suprisingly, Generations Z and Alpha have very different priorities from those generations who are older.

Politics aside, how successful was The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It! as a piece of theatre? The evening went as expected. The audience were, for the most part, well behaved, given the incendiary comments regarding Brexit that issued continuously from the stage. Lots of drama from prepared scripts, but also lots clever of ad libs from the performers when the heckling from the floor got too intense. Even Bercow’s familiar fixed epithetical admonishments were unable to quiet the crowd from time to time. Media experience paid off handsomely, however. Alex Salmond, Andrew Marr, Mike Graham and Claire Fox showed their skills both in debate, and engaging with the audience. Gina Miller was less certain, though gained in confidence as the evening progressed. David Davis maintained a quietly confident air even when challenged on his own part in the real life drama now known as Brexit. Last, but certainly not least, Cora from Chestnut Grove Academy showed she can hold her own with the seasoned politicians on stage. If her fellow student Dominic appeared less certain, he made up for it with engaging charm, and an honest assessment of his own skills. More power (in the best sense) to them both in future.

The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It! gets my vote over an evening reading Hansard. Producer Sheikh-Ahmed deserves acclaim for coming up with such a clever way to engage young people in politics. If this show comes to your home town, book a ticket, take your friends, and come prepared to heckle with the best of them.

THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT! at Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed on 21st November 2023

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Alex Todd

(taken at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance)

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Sh!t-Faced Macbeth | ★★★★★ | July 2021

A Pissedmas Carol | ★★★★★ | December 2021

Shit-Faced Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet | ★★★★ | July 2022

Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare®: Much Ado About Nothing | ★★★★★ | July 2023

The Ayes Have It

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★★★★

“some interesting twists and turns along the way”

Anthropology, Lauren Gunderson’s new play premiering at the Hampstead Theatre, is a convoluted tale about sibling love that attempts to transcend life as we presently know it. It begins as a tale about a missing woman, and her sister’s refusal to give up the search for her. Since sister Merril is a tech wizard specializing in artificial intelligence, it’s not long before A.I is employed as a tool to help Merril in her mission. But at the heart of Anthropology is an unnerving question: can artificial intelligence mimic humans so well that people begin to respond to them as though A.I was human? And even more chilling: that A.I might produce intellectual and emotional interactions that are somehow even more relatable than the humans they imitate?

Gunderson’s protagonist Merril and her sister Angie have endured a tough childhood marked by their mother’s descent into drug addiction. Merril stepped up as Angie’s parent when mother Brin no longer could, so it’s not surprising that Merril would continue searching for her sister when everyone else has given up. Merril’s grieving is so intense, however, that she turns to A.I not only as a way of trying to find clues about what happened to Angie, but also as a way of maintaining a relationship that she cannot bear to relinquish. A.I Angie, it turns out, is just as prickly and unsettling as the original, and part of the pleasure of Gunderson’s humorous script is watching Merril (played beautifully by MyAnna Buring) caught continually off guard by her digital sibling’s unerring ability to cut to the chase regarding Merril’s failed relationships with lover Raquel (Yolanda Kettle) and mother Brin (Abigail Thaw). There’s a lot more story packed into this tense 90 minute thriller of a plot, and some interesting twists and turns along the way. Ultimately, however, Anthropology is less about the success of artificial intelligence in predicting human behaviour. It is more a story about failed human relationships.

“ninety minutes is too short a time to explore such complex subject matter as artificial intelligence in the context of a family drama”

Anthropology begins encouragingly enough in a gleaming white box of a set, designed by Georgia Lowe, sparsely populated by a podium, a screen, and two open lap tops on the floor. MyAnna Buring as Merril gives an intriguing account of her search for Angie by using A.I to sift through her sister’s digital footprint, looking for clues. Merril is very good at her work, and soon digital Angie has become video Angie, confidently predicting that human Angie may still be alive. There is, however, a price to pay. Merril will have to repair her relationships with Raquel and Brin in order to know for sure. It’s a great set up, and suggests all sorts of directions for the plot to go. The production is further enhanced by a medley of tech inspired lighting (James Whiteside), video design (Daniel Denton) and back projections, plus music and sound design (Max Pappenheim). But what begins promisingly as an exploration of artificial intelligence as solace for grieving (a subject also explored by pioneering sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov), ends up in Anthropology as yet another tale of absent parents and sibling rivalry. Even the wit and sparkle of Gunderson’s dialogue cannot quite disguise the recognition that this is pretty familiar territory, plot wise.

In fairness, ninety minutes is too short a time to explore such complex subject matter as artificial intelligence in the context of a family drama. Anthropology is a very American play; the all female cast treads all too familiar territory in such intimate settings. For all Merril’s high tech bravado, she is still fettered by the assumption that her life and career, are always at the mercy of relationship repair and unmet expectations regarding parenthood. It’s a brave attempt on Gunderson’s part to try to create a cutting edge drama about cutting edge technology. But the results are predictable, given the shortcomings of the humans (still) in charge.

THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT!at Leicester Square Theatre

★★★★

“Lots of drama from prepared scripts, but also lots clever of ad libs from the performers when the heckling from the floor got too intense.”

THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT! at Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed on 21st November 2023

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Alex Todd

(taken at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance)

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Ayes Have It

The Ayes Have It

ANTHROPOLOGY at the Hampstead Theatre

★★★★

“some interesting twists and turns along the way”

“ninety minutes is too short a time to explore such complex subject matter as artificial intelligence in the context of a family drama”

ANTHROPOLOGY at the Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 18th September 2023

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by The Other Richard

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Anthropology

Anthropology