Handbagged at Lowry

Get ready for a fresh, funny and fierce revival of this fascinating fly-on-the-wall show. Moira Buffini’s playful and satirical exploration of the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher comes to Lowry this spring.

Clever and charming, with brilliant theatricality, Handbagged imagines what happened in the private meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher over an eleven-year period, from 1979 to 1990.

Now, 25 years on, the legacies of both women loom large in this fresh interpretation of Buffini’s Olivier Award winner. This new version of the play, produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Theatre Nation Partnerships, and directed by Alex Thorpe, incorporates original music, a capella singing and remixed ‘80s pop classics.

Entertainingly told and generously iced with political humour, the monarch and Her most powerful subject collide as they give their opposing views of Britain’s role in the world. Obviously, no one really knows what happened between the four walls of the weekly meetings between sovereign and minister, but Buffini constructs a completely credible conflict of values between radically different characters.

Comical, perceptive and beautifully performed, the play stars Emma Ernest as ‘Mags’ and Helen Reuben as ‘Liz’, with Morag Cross and Sarah Moyle, appearing as the older versions of the main characters, ‘T’ and ‘Q’. Further casting will see Cassius Konneh and Gerard McDermott multirole the 17 other characters in the play, including Ronald Reagan and Denis Thatcher.

Of the show, Director Alex Thorpe told us, “I am thrilled to welcome this multi-talented cast…as we prepare to embark on the most ambitious TNP tour to date. As we reexamine these fierce and famed women, joining this ensemble company is some of the UK’s most exciting creative talents, realising Moira Buffini’s satirically funny comedy. Performed on Katie Lias’ golden contemporary set and propelled by Kate Marlais’s reworking of 80’s pop classics and the award-winning Ryan Day’s lighting – this truly extraordinary team is not to be missed.”

We recommend getting your tickets quick for Handbagged – incredibly funny, acute and slightly wicked.