Politics at Bats
Grieve was at Parliament to accept his Boys Brigade Queens Award from the then Prime Minister.
“He was shorter than me even then,” Grieve remembers.
Now he’s playing Muldoon in Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a new Dean Parker play, opening at Bats Theatre this week. The play is an expressionist biography of Muldoon from his pro-Labour childhood through to his ruthless seizure of power in the 1970s and his inevitable downfall in 1984.
“Muldoon was a complicated contradictory man,” Grieve says. “He came across as a little ugly brutish person, and he was, but he was also responsible for some important pieces of social legislation such as the introduction of the DPB.
Grieve says most of his research for the part has come from reading histories of the period. He’s also had to learn Muldoon’s accent ... “he sounded quite Australian, with a slight drawl”... and that infamous laugh.
Director Dave Lawrence says Slouching Towards Bethlehem, depicts Muldoon as the dominating fearless Prime Minister he was, but also shows him as a loving father and husband.
“People who see Muldoon as a Stalinist dictator will feel vindicated when they see this play, but those who are sympathetic towards him will still come away sympathetic. Some of the most sympathetic stuff I’ve read about Muldoon was written by those who had the most reason to hate and vilify him.”
Lawrence says while playwright Dean Parker has written a true account of Muldoon’s life he has done so with some licence.
“Where there’s debate between historical correctness and theatricality Parker errs on the side of theatricality.”
Politics is a continuing theme at Bats with the return of political satire comedy shows Public Service Announcements. First performed at the NZ International Comedy Festival, Public Service Announcements is a collection of three scripts which see Phil Goff preparing for the leaders debate, Murray McCully hunting for the best world cup ever, and Hone Harawira’s search for inner peace.
The shows will play at Bats over the next six weekends.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Bats Theatre, August 31 to September 10. Public Service Announcements, September 2 to October 8.










Have Your Say
0 Comments
No comments.