Cast

Synopsis

A witty and devastating portrait of the governing class. It’s a summer’s morning in 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. Diana has a stinking hangover, a fox is destroying the garden, and secrets are being dug up all over the place. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital sparring quickly turns to blood-sport. Hansard is an intimate domestic drama about a long and troubled marriage. It is also a comedy about politics and identity and the failings of the ruling class. It is funny, tender, brutal, and ultimately devastating.

Directors Notes

Hansard; noun /hænsa:d/ the official record of parliamentary
debates.

What is written cannot be unsaid. And plenty is said between the
two warring parties of Simon Wood’s debut play. Set in May 1988,
but mirroring today’s political landscape all too eerily, Hansard is a
political play with a very domestic drama at its heart. Polar ethics
and opinions, class warfare and the British tradition of sweeping
it all under the rug are all played out in this Cotswolds idyll. The
battleground centres around one of the political debates of the day
– the introduction of Section 28 by Margaret Thatcher’s government,
which forbade the ‘promotion’ (but in practice the very mention) of
homosexuality in schools.

First performed at the National Theatre in 2019, starring Alex
Jennings and Lyndsay Duncan, Hansard delivers a rollercoaster
of emotions through witty banter to bitter recriminations. The play
speaks volumes for the changes that have happened in society
over a relatively short period of time. I was 9 years old at the time
this play is set, and at the introduction of Section 28, which certainly
cast a shadow over my formative years and school life. Incredibly,
it was only repealed in 2003 when I was in my mid-twenties. Along
with many others in the LGBTQ community, I encountered first-
hand just how invisible it made us, how frightening the landscape
was in the wake of the AIDS crisis, and how reluctant anyone in
authority was to offer understanding, support and guidance at
time of teenage angst and confusion. Yet, Woods’ play somehow
manages to portray a man who supports something so divisive with
genuine sympathy and understanding, and through revelations of
unspoken, unresolved pain, ultimately gives us something deeply
affecting and incredibly moving.

It’s been a privilege to be back at Bingley Little Theatre to work
alongside such a talented and experienced cast to bring this piece
of contemporary theatre to life.