Robert Tanitch reviews The Majority at National Theatre/Dorfman
It has often been reported that democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others.
I think it was Winston Churchill who said the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.
Rob Drummond in The Majority
You have seen what happened when people were asked to vote in Britain. And you have seen what happened when people voted in the American election. The Majority are not always right.
Rob Drummond’s one-man show, hardly a play, is a 90-minute affable chat in which he confronts us with a number of moral conundrums, including the familiar runaway train scenario, in which we are given a choice in certain life-threatening circumstances as to whom we would save and whom we would kill.
On entering the theatre the audience is provided with electronic voting pads, which quickly establishes that 90% of the audience are liberal, 93% white, 40% male, 65% social media users. No surprises there, then.
Only 36% believe in freedom in speech. 78% think they can make a difference. 86% think we should remain in Europe. 46% think theatre latecomers should not be admitted into the auditorium.
Drummond admits he didn’t vote during the Scottish Referendum.
He tells a story about a Scot he met during a demonstration who turned out to be a beekeeper and a left-wing radical who was convinced that the small fishing village in which he lived was infested with Nazis.
As a result of this acquaintance, Drummond momentarily became a vandal and punched a neo-Nazi on the nose because the neo-Nazi didn’t want to let any Syrian refugees into the country.
The performance would have more punch if it ended with the audience having a proper verbal debate about violence.
What should our response be to people who do not hold our views? What, for instance, do you think should be the correct response to the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan and assorted white supremacy groups who demonstrated violently in Charlottesville in Virginia, USA?
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website
