25th September The last stand of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

 

Today TOM and I began what promises to be a weekend of cultural extravegance with a trip to the Nottingham Playhouse to see The last stand of Mrs Mary Whitehouse featuring Maxine Peake in the title role and Samuel Barnett, playing all the supporting roles, be it a succession of distressed parents, conflicted gay people or strong-viewed women.

With her strongly conservative Christian views, Mary Whitehouse became a house hold name in her opposition to blasphemy, pornography and homosexuality, whilst all the while claiming that she was just a a person who collected pebbles for a hobby. 

Seen by some as a figure of fun, by others as a righteous moral crusader upholding family values,  she was also viewed by others as a monster who caused irreperable damage to the gay community.

Her victorious blasphemy libel case against an article appearing in Gay News in 1977 had widespread and long lasting impications. Advertisers began to shun the paper causeing its eventual closure in the early 80's just when it could and would have been able to offer advice on a national basis to the gay community just as the AIDS epidemic reached the UK.

As for the play itself well it was hard hitting, poignant, funny and as relevant today as it was back in the 70's 80's. Maxine Peake was fabulous as the main protaganist, managing to channel elements of Hyacinth Bouquet, Cisy and Ada (Les Dawson) and Kitty from Acorn Antiques to create a character that you could both despise and feel sorry for.

And Samuel Barnett was a real chamealeon as he swapped charachters, roles and gender with great aplomb and anazing costume changes. His appearance as Margaret Thatcher was one of the highlights of the show, engaging as he did with a very passionate Mrs Whitehouse about the dangers of sex toys, nearly being assaulted with a gianl dildo in the process.

For most of the production you could have heard a pin drop as the audience held onto every gesture, word and emotion conveyed by just two people on the stage. A very thought provoking night out. Quite what Mary Whitehouse would have thought of the gender fluidity and self identification of 2025 is something I shudder to imagine.

 


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