‘The Constituent’ Review: James Corden Impresses in Timely but Contrived Political Play
variety.comDavid Benedict Regardless of one’s political allegiance, it’s almost universally agreed that in recent years political expediency rather than truth has been, literally, the governing principle behind speeches from Britain’s right-wing politicians.
Sadly, the same is true of the two leads in Joe Penhall’s contrived, adversarial three-hander about confrontations between a local opposition MP (member of parliament) and her angry constituent.
That James Corden would choose “The Constituent” for his return to the British stage, however, makes complete sense. His convincing performance shows a side of him previously unseen on either side of the Atlantic.
Picking up on the prevailing real-life threat to MPs – the worst of which was Labour politician Jo Cox being murdered on her way to meet constituents in 2016 – the play presents increasingly fraught meetings between local MP Monica (Anna Maxwell Martin) and ex-serviceman Alec (Corden) who served in Afghanistan and is now running his own small business providing security.
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