As the Jimmy Savile story has unfolded, one of the strongest feelings has been outrage that he cannot be made to answer for his actions – death has enabled him to become the ultimate absconder. The theatrical satisfaction of Jonathan Maitland’s serious, timely play is that it creates the illusion of bringing Savile back to life and confronts him with his crimes. Alistair McGowan’s impersonation is so uncannily and creepily powerful that when he first lopes on stage in turquoise metallic tracksuit, puffing on a cigar and hiding behind sunglasses of bloodshot pink, it causes a shocking frisson. It is the resurrection of a monster happy to style himself as Jesus’s right hand man. “Ladies and gentlemen, guys and gals…” One shivers to hear that voice again.
But the play is more than the portrait of an obscene jester; it’s an unsensational attempt to analyse how Savile got away with abuse on such a scale (more than 200 offences in 50 years). His victims are a composite – played by transparently convincing Leah Whitaker. In Brendan O’Hea’s trenchant production, we see how Savile “groomed the nation” and celebrity was prized above law. It is very much a journalist’s play (Maitland’s other career is as a broadcaster) and sometimes the dialogue feels schematic. But what matters most is that it is a starting point for necessary discussion.
