The reviews are in for An Audience with Jimmy Savile, Jonathan Maitland’s play at the Park theatre, in north London, starring Alistair McGowan as the disgraced television presenter. The drama draws on transcripts of interviews, witness statements and official reports as well as the playwright’s interviews with Savile’s victims. So is it a piece of valuable reportage-style theatre or distasteful sensationalism? Here’s what the critics said…
Lyn Gardner, the Guardian:
McGowan is repellently convincing, getting the tics and verbal mannerisms spot on, as you’d expect from the impressionist turned actor. But he also hints, when confronted by one of Savile’s victims, at the dead-eyed emptiness of a man whose presentation of himself to the world was one big con trick … The play is by no means a piece of sordid opportunism … But it is a wee bit dull, perfunctorily staged by Brendan O’Hea, and dramatically inert for the most part.”
Dominic Maxwell, the Times:
He rants and rages like a Yorkshire Dalek. Everything he does is a manoeuvre: a happy one or a harsh one, whichever is needed. Confronted by a female researcher who sees him with a girl in his dressing room, McGowan grasps her ponytail, takes control of the situation. Why didn’t we catch this vicious, tactically brilliant man in his lifetime? Maitland and McGowan show us just how much bravery that would have taken.
Matt Trueman, What’s On Stage:
There’s a flicker of electricity the moment Alistair McGowan steps out on stage as Jimmy Savile … The notion of McGowan impersonating Savile has been the most controversial thing about journalist Jonathan Maitland’s play. It can’t be too soon, given that some of the allegations against Savile date back 60 years, but the prospect of mimicry – of a virtuosic performance, of exactitude – seems somehow distasteful. It is, however, the very reason Maitland’s play works.”
Paul Taylor, the Independent:
A responsibly shocking, well-researched, and patently honourable piece … It was a smart move to cast the excellent Alistair McGowan as Savile since it arouses expectations of a likeable comic impression and so heightens the chilling glimpses we get of the intimidating thug under the clown persona that so calculatedly harnessed ‘the power of odd’ … The menacing assertiveness and the name-dropping megalomania in McGowan’s portrayal make is easier to understand how Savile got away with it.”
Ben Lawrence, the Telegraph:
Police interviews with Savile and an unlikely encounter between Savile and a tabloid hack flesh out the details (Maitland is also a journalist and has a reporter’s eye for clarity). But these scenes also slow things down – merely repeating what anyone with a reasonable knowledge of the history would already know. Great drama can shed new light on the most talked-about of subjects. This doesn’t and, as a result, is merely depressing.
Paul Vale, the Stage:
Maitland creates the story of Lucy, raped by Savile at the age of 12, who in adulthood attempts a prosecution. The author handles the harrowing story with sensitivity and indeed, the whole play has evolved with the help and support of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. How Lucy’s accusation is greeted by the press, authorities and Savile himself give insight into the abuser’s mindset and offer some explanation as to how he was able to conceal his crimes for so long.
