The Vote

No, this isn't me dipping my toe into very late post-election aftermath. Well it is...sort of...only this is much more entertaining. For whilst most British broadcasters were sitting agog on election night as the results came in, More 4 simultaneously transmitted live a very special one off performance from the Donmar Warehouse theatre. The play was called The Vote and it was a triumph.

Set around a marginal polling station during the last hour or so of voting, played in real time, The Vote gave us a quintessential, charming, down to earth, ludicrous and hilarious look into life in a polling station. Utterly believable and utterly joyous, and performed by an utterly ridiculous and stupendous cast.
No really, the cast list for this was enormous and fantastic. It was led by the rising cult icon Mark Gatiss, who was both hilarious and touchingly charming, British TV legend Catherine Tate, with oodles of charm, comedy, sass and sex appeal, and Nina Sosanya, who may have been a bit shrinking throughout the second half, but still was a great dynamic and teamed well with Gatiss and Tate. But that was by no means all. We had a genius turn from the legendary Timothy West, a greatly timed cameo from Jude Law, plus mother and daughter ultimate combo from the divine Dame Judi Dench and real life daughter Finty Williams. All of these plus many many more. The cast and characters really were mind boggling but at no point did the appearance of any of them feel over the top or forced. As a one off this truly was a delicious feast of truly talented thespians.

In establishing an early and perfectly pitched sense of community and heart, The Vote simply built layer upon layer of lunacy, a smattering of drama and lots of home grown fun as time went on, and as the voters kept coming. James Graham and Josie Rourke have captured beautifully the plethora of people you an come across, not just in election times but generally. To then shape it around the backdrop of this small little school/polling office on stage and add as I say a whole host of character and characters and the end product is stunning. Yes OK, the sheer volume of cast did make things a bit full on, and the grounding core members got a tad lost in the crowd but in the end I am not complaining too much at all about the overall result.

Given the scale of production and sheer talent within the cast of many, it is difficult to see how this TV/theatre crossover could ever come about again. However if it does, I shall certainly be in line to see it again. And for those of you who didn't this time around, I urge you to visit Channel 4's catch up site. After all - The Vote is not to be missed!