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Keeler’s take on Profumo affair
KEELER
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
HALFWAY through the second half of Keeler, a man apparently suffering from a stomach bug, lurched from the audience, stepped backstage and threw up.
The cast continued as if nothing had happened. It was a measure, albeit bizarre, of how accomplished the actors are in this intriguing show.
Keeler is based on The Truth At Last, former model Christine Keeler’s written take on the Profumo scandal.
To recap, she slept with minister for war John Profumo in the 1960s as well as Russian spy Eugene Ivanov – a conflict of interest in the bedroom that triggered Old Bailey trials and a national scandal.
Profumo, who died last year, lied to the House of Commons about his affair, a fib which led to his downfall and, in many people’s eyes, that of the Harold Macmillan’s Tory government.
Paul Nicholas, curly-haired Vince from Just Good Friends, puts it all on stage with Keeler’s consent, recalling Britain’s biggest political sex scandal.
John Prescott, John Major, David Blunkett, the MP with the orange in his mouth, they must all play second fiddle to Profumo. Some people may just know Keeler for straddling a chair – back to front and apparently naked – for an iconic photograph.
But Alice Coulthard, perfectly cast as the lead, reveals the story behind the pic, a striking portrait of a painfully naïve teenager bullied by everyone from mobsters to top-rank politicians.
Chief tormentor is Stephen Ward (played with just the right amount of letchy grease by Brian Cowan), whose seedy orgies drag Keeler further into a world of trouble.
There are great performances, some neat twirly showgirl choreography and a rattling sixties soundtrack. It’s a cut above most fringe shows and a play on a sex scandal is always going to sell well.
If you know nothing about the whole affair, it might be difficult to follow but it’s fair assumption that with a story this big that everything need not be spelt out.
Nevertheless, the concentration is often on Ward rather than Profumo and Ivanov, and if you blink you might miss the fact that Keeler and Ivanov ever slept together at all.
More investigation into what the secret service made of it all might have been worthwhile.
Thumbs up, otherwise.
020 8340 3488
Until March 18
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