Iannucci satire on Covid and Johnson axed over poll date
A Scottish theatre has apologised to its customers after plans to host a stage satire lampooning Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were scuppered by the timing of the General Election.
The plug has been pulled on Pandemonium, a “caustic” new play by award-winning Scottish writer Armando Iannucci, just weeks after the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh unveiled it as the curtain-raiser for its new season.
The week-long run was also intended to launch a UK tour of the show, which was said to explore the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic and the downfall of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
However the show, which was described as “a funny, wild history play,” was also expected to feature up-to-the-minute commentary on the UK political landscape from Iannucci, one of Britain’s leading satirists.
However the show’s producers have blamed Mr Sunak's surprise move last month to trigger a 4 July election for their decision to call off future performances, claiming the play "wouldn't work as well for audiences" if it was staged after voters had gone to the polls.
The play was the first work to be written for the stage by Glasgow-born Iannucci, who is best known for hit TV shows such as The Day Today, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge, The Thick of It and Veep.
Publicity material said it would allow audiences to "relive the horror" and "the lying about the lies" by telling the story of the “Johnsontruss-sunack years” at a furious pace.
It was expected to show Lyceum audiences “how our great leaders grappled first with the pandemic and then with each other.”
Told entirely in verse, the production was well received by critics after an initial run at the Soho Theatre in London last year.
Announcing the show last month, the Lyceum said: “Pandemonium dissects past and present political leaders in this satirical exploration of the British Government’s actions towards the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
"Pandemonium lays bare the pandemic government, in all its farce and tragedy. And at the head of it, the ultimate Shakespearean protagonist, Boris Johnson.”
Discussing the production at a new season launch event, artistic director David Greig said: “There is a constant process of writing. It will be an absolutely up to the minute comic approach to our politics.
"I think it will be funny, but quite hard-hitting, painful and possibly close to the bone.”
The Lyceum, which launched its new season the week after Mr Sunak’s election announcement, said the decision to pull the show had been entirely down to Iannucci and Wayward Productions, the show’s producers.
A statement from Wayward Productions said: “Unfortunately, the early calling of the General Election in June changes the context of the piece significantly. We felt strongly that the production wouldn’t work as well for audiences without an election campaign in the background.”
Pandemonium lays bare the pandemic government, in all its farce and tragedy Lyceum