Reality show: Thomas Wheatley as Philippe Sands QC and Diane Fletcher as Clare Short MP. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Last night, I went to see Called to Account, a contemporary play closer to current events than any I have ever seen. With Blair's announcement today shadowing the script's every word, a small, perhaps futile part of me hoped that the prime minister himself would turn up to view this play's political proceedings - ideally for some much-needed soul searching. I guess that's never going to happen though, is it?
As I left the Tricycle theatre, however, I did a double-take as I passed someone who looked incredibly like the actor playing Conservative MP Michael Mates; and then I realised that the big-bellied man with bushy eyebrows and flushed face was, in fact, the real Mr Mates. How odd it must be to see yourself so brilliantly characterised - or caricatured? - on stage, your every inflection, personal trait and habit mimicked or mimed, sometimes to much audience amusement.
It got weirder. On the train home, I sat opposite the actor William Hoyland, who had played Sir Murray Stuart-Smith. I overheard him tell his companion how his real-life other had also come to see the play one night and made terribly polite noises afterwards, Hoyland said, about how he had got him down to a tee.
It's an actor's bread and butter to bring a personality to life. But it must be harder when the original is sitting just a few feet away, watching your portrayal for any slight, any insult.
Blair isn't characterised in person in Called To Account, but if he does sneak into the stalls one night I wonder how he would react to how his words and actions have been interpreted by all those interviewees. Down to a tee, Tony?
