Robert Tanitch reviews The Three Lions at St James Theatre, London SW1
The three lions are David Beckham, Prince William and David Cameron. They are in Zurich in November 2010 to bring back the 2018 FIFA World Cup to Britain. We all know they failed.
Can you tell the difference between a bribe and an incentive? There is not much sense in competing unless you are willing to be as corrupt as the other bidders.
The bid cost Britain £20 million. It was money down the drain. The decision had already been made. The money could have been spent on hospitals and education.
William Gaminara’s comedy is not a biting satire on corruption. Gaminara speculates what went on in the hotel bedrooms and comes up with a farce.
The comedy is gently amusing precisely because he and the actors play up to the audience’s comic expectations of the behaviour of Cameron, William and Beckham.
Dugald Bruce-Lockhart has the PM’s mannerisms but he doesn’t look anything like Cameron. Not that it matters. Bruce-Lockhart is a natural farceur. Tom Davey is not as believable as Prince William as Oliver Chris was in Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III.
The most convincing and easily the most likeable performance comes from Sean Browne. He looks so like David Beckham it’s uncanny. The footballer is presented as being not very bright.
But what is unexpected, in this farcical context, is that Beckham is given a sad little speech about this perception and Browne does it so sincerely that the audience takes it as seriously as he does and is hushed.
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