Russell Lees's two-hander about the final hours of Richard Nixon's presidency is billed as a comedy. But what unfolds is an ironic tragedy of power-hungry men who will cling to office and the trappings of power at all costs. Even when they're caught red-handed, they demand their places in the history books.
The men in question are Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th president of the United States, who was forced to resign the presidency after the Watergate scandal, and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. The two men met at the White House the night before Nixon's resignation: what took place between them is not known, but it's unlikely that it was anywhere near as entertaining as Lees's speculation.
Although he still has fantasies of avoiding impeachment, Nixon is a duck that's clearly dead in the water. Not without reason, Kissinger is concerned that he might be the stuffing. Anxious to ensure his political survival and his role with the incoming Ford administration, Kissinger is forced to kowtow to a man who is now entirely powerless and yet retains the cloak of power that is the presidency. Soon Nixon has Kissinger play-acting, and taking on the roles of Brezhnev and Chairman Mao, as the president relives his foreign policy triumphs. In reality, this terrible duo's foreign policy led - either directly or indirectly - to the deaths of more than 800,000 people.
A lot of this play-acting seems contrived, though Lees neatly makes the point that there is an actor in every successful politician. The remainder is enjoyably implausible as, fuelled by fear and alcohol, the two men lapse into fantasies in which they ask then Israeli prime minister Golda Meir to bomb a few Palestinians so that Nixon can prove his importance as a world player, and save his reputation, if not his neck.
It is mildly amusing, but not compelling; intelligent, but not profound. The only people whom these 90 minutes will really engage or surprise are innocents who believe that politicians are selfless souls who are short on ego and big on emotional intelligence.
The evening's main clout comes with two heavyweight performances: Keith Jochim as the jowly, hunched Nixon, and Tim Donoghue, whose Henry Kissinger is a man whose eyes are so focused on posterity that he forgets to watch his butt.
Until September 15. Box office: 020 7369 1731.
