Acting the part

On Monday night I went to the theatre. It's been a shamefully long time since I last went, and the experience was on the whole an enjoyable one - although that particular type of smug knowing laughter you only ever get from theatrical audiences really starts to grate after a while. The performance was of David Hare's 1990 play 'Racing Demon', the first in a trilogy of 'state of the nation' plays, the others being 'Murmuring Judges' (1991) and 'The Absence Of War' (1993). The play explores the Church of England's awkward and marginalised place in British society in the late twentieth century, as more an unacknowledged social service than a shining beacon of faith. Belief and conviction, relevance and tradition are central themes, and, although on odd occasions Hare seems determined to shoehorn particular debates into the play which detract slightly from the dramatic effectiveness of certain scenes, the subject matter is dealt with warmly, intelligently and with a measure of wit. I was perhaps slightly disappointed that there wasn't the 'edge' to the drama I'd been expecting, given Hare's collaborations 'Brassneck' (1973) and 'Pravda' (1985) with the polemical playwright Howard Brenton, whose 'The Romans In Britain' (1978) is really powerful in-your-face stuff - but it was still certainly an evening well spent.