The 47th starring Bertie Carvel and Lydia Wilson – review round-up

The 47th – Entertaining without insight?

It’s 2024. Vice-president Kamala Harris has taken over from Joe Biden, and is squaring off against a resurgent Donald Trump in the race for the White House. Shakespearean allusions abound. That is the general gist of The 47th, but do the reviews rank as highly King Charles III?

It is compelling, that is for sure. The play is “fitfully brilliant and utterly, utterly gripping” according to Sarah Crompton (WhatsOnStage, ★★★★) and “relentlessly enthralling” according to Andrzej Lukowski (TimeOut, ★★★★). “My God, it’s entertaining,” he writes. “The plot grips mercilessly.”

Yes, it’s “eloquent and clever”, writes Nick Curtis (Evening Standard, ★★★), “but it has surprisingly little to say”. Marianka Swain (LondonTheatre, ★★★) agrees. It’s “vastly entertaining” but “neither offers fresh wisdom on the past nor grapples with the future”, she writes.

Most critics concur. The 47th is “entertaining but uneven” for Clive Davis (Times, ★★★) and “a conceptual riff rather than truly Shakespearean” for Arifa Akbar (Guardian, ★★★). For Dominic Cavendish (Telegraph, ★★), there’s a “lack of meaningful substance beneath the theatrical polish".

The 47th – Brilliant Bertie

Bertie Carvel won an Olivier award for his performance as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, then another – plus a Tony award – for his portrayal of Rupert Murdoch in James Graham’s Ink. We have seen myriad actors take Trump in recent years. Does Carvel’s ascend mere impersonation?

It definitely does. The critics fall over themselves in praise of Carvel’s Trump. It’s “barnstorming”, says Davis. “Astonishing” adds Swain. A “tour de force” chimes Cavendish. “The performance of his career”, says Rachel Halliburton (TheArtsDesk, ★★★).

“Yes, he’s got the padding and the wig, a floating shelf of fried-nylon, but it’s more than just make-up, it transcends Saturday Night Live caricatures,” writes Natasha Tripney (The Stage, ★★★). “He has the man’s manner down to a golf tee: the barely concealed threat, the self-adulation, the weird prissiness. It’s uncanny.”

“Buried under orange-stained prosthetics, Carvel is unrecognisable,” agrees Anya Ryan (Independent, ★★★★). “Hunched and puckered lipped, he is the full embodiment of the 45th president. More than just an impersonation, though, this is a whirlwind, career-defining performance.”

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The 47th – Divisive direction

Elsewhere, American actor Tamara Tunie takes on Kamala Harris, and Lydia Wilson plays Ivanka Trump. What do the critics think of their performances? And of Miriam Buether’s design, and Rupert Goold’s staging overall?

Both Tunie and Wilson are widely praised. Tunie is “magnetising” as Harris according to Akbar, while Curtis calls her “charismatic”. Wilson’s Ivanka, meanwhile, is “shiver-inducing” for Swain” and “superlative” for Halliburton. She is “a ruthless dominatrix Barbie with ironed hair and a wardrobe full of bodycon dresses and spike heels”, describes Curtis.

Buether’s set – a large, tilted circle, illuminated by a mirroring halo and backed by video projections – is largely lauded. It’s “genius” according to Halliburton, and both Tripney and Curtis compare it to the war room from Dr Strangelove.

Goold’s direction, though, is divisive. It’s “typically slick and vibrant” for Swain, and has his “usual sheen” for Cavendish, but for Akbar it struggles with slowness and “lacks atmosphere”, while for Curtis it is “slick but also oddly weedy”, and it can’t capture the fervour of political rallies.

The 47th – The verdict

Carvel’s transformation into Trump is incredible, and it might be worth going to see The 47th just to catch one of Britain’s finest stage actors inhabit one of the world’s most controversial – and recognisable – figures. Tunie and Wilson also impress as Harris and Ivanka Trump.

There are reservations about Bartlett’s play and Goold’s staging. It is an entertaining and exhilarating attempt to skewer American politics in Shakespearean style – but it does not have the substance to back it up. Most critics award it three stars: far from a flop, but nowhere near as captivating as King Charles III.