Satirical end for Mrs T

May 29 2007 By Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

With plays like Dirty Dusting and Waiting For Gateaux, they've been making us laugh for years. But now the successful Tyneside writing partnership of Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood are back with something darker.

Maggie's End, their first play for two years, is a controversial satire about the death of Margaret Thatcher.

"It is a departure for us," agrees 48-year-old Ed. "Dirty Dancing was a gag a second, a completely feel-good experience.

"We are comedy writers first and foremost. This has got lots of laughs but it is dark, although it has two of the funniest scenes we have written.

"It will make people think but it is entertainment. If people want deep philosophy, they can go and read books. We want to entertain them."

Maggie's End is about the legacy of the Thatcher years as seen through the eyes of a family. "It's a play about betrayal, both personally and politically," says Ed.

The idea was sparked on hearing about possible funeral plans in the event of the former Prime Minister's death. He explains: "It was a bulletin about 18 months ago, about 2am on Radio 5.

"It said New Labour was thinking of giving Margaret Thatcher a state funeral. It was just after her 80th birthday.

"You can understand the feelings: people either love or hate Margaret Thatcher.

"For certain people in the North-East, she decimated communities, the mining community, steel community and shipyards."

It brought back memories and set the playwrights talking, reflecting on the conflicts of the time and, more recently, on how "the New Labour experiment has failed and there's a sense of disillusionment. We got this idea of betrayal."

Trevor, also 48, who lives in Sandyford, Newcastle, said: "The mention of Margaret Thatcher still evokes very strong emotions in people.

"Some remember her decimating communities. Others still worship her as someone who changed the face of the British economy, industrial relations and politics." Ed, originally from Newcastle, has lived in South Shields for the past 15 years. Like many people, he remembers all too clearly the impact of those Thatcher years on the region.

"I lived through them and lots of my friends were miners and shipyard workers."

It's a story that is likely to resonate with audiences but the point, says Ed, is to get people talking. "As playwrights we are not frightened to tackle any subject.

"We didn't want to go back to the 1980s or revisit that but to look at what happens in a family, the struggle between family members, traditional Labour and New Labour.

"It's not a propaganda play: we want people to talk about it afterwards, whether they agree or disagree. It's very, very emotive."

While this is their first play for a couple of years, the writers have filled the intervening months with a hectic schedule of events.

Dirty Dusting, for instance, won a standing ovation from a 1,600-strong audience in Ireland and Waiting for Gateaux was a big hit in New Zealand.

Demand for re-runs of their plays has been huge. At one time they had plays running simultaneously at The Customs House and The Journal Tyne Theatre.

"It was overkill," laughs Ed. "Even we were sick of us!"

But fans are being kept on their toes with unexpected delights such as a forthcoming children's play called Cinderella 2 - "a great knockabout children's play" - and a film script, Hark The Herald Angel, commissioned by Newcastle film producers Ipso Facto and being touted around Cannes last week.

The new play, too, may eventually be turned into a film. Its debut at the Gala Theatre in Durham is also something of a departure for the pair as their last collaborations have all premiered at the Customs House in South Shields.

The Durham theatre, says Ed, is rather bigger and it's near the train station so the hope is that it will attract the interest of those in the Big Smoke. "It's about reaching new audiences. And it has more chance of getting the producers who are the movers and shakers from London."

The theatre's programming manager, Robin Byers, said: "I consider this to be the best script I've read by Ed and Trevor."

The play runs from October 16-20. Tickets are on sale now. Tel: (0191) 332-4041.