I would like to tell you that a former Tory candidate would be better at grilling far-left figures like former Unite Union leader, Len McCluskey and former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. I would also like to say that the audience was hanging onto every charged word or phrase, but this would all be untrue. The start of Iain Dale’s Fringe campaign ‘All Talk’ started with a distant and subdued pop as a half-full house took their seats to watch the talk unfold.
The show began with the two guests promoting their new book “Poetry for the Many”, which combined their love of poetry with a drive for social equality. Len’s emotional recitation of some of the English language’s best poems was pleasant, but his insight was poor, constantly overlaying each poem with his political views. This was best demonstrated by his reading of Shelley’s Masque of Anarchy, closing with “Ye are many –they are few!”. Unfortunately, the two failed to captivate their audience, whom I would assume did not pay to be read poetry.
Even after Dale managed to wrestle the two onto a relevant topic, the quality of talk hardly improved. Once the discussion turned to current affairs forty minutes in, an audible snore could be heard from the back of the theatre. I couldn’t help but think I was watching two men living in the last century, using aimless rhetoric like “the establishment” with several references to Margaret Thatcher, that failed to resonate with the audience. Whether Dale felt outnumbered or didn’t realise his guests were off with the fairies it is unclear, but he evidently failed to keep a grip on the discussion, allowing the two to wax uncontested about the media, the Labour party, the establishment, apartheid, and Margaret Thatcher, with no end or direction.
The discussion had all the hallmarks of someone attempting to do too much in too little time, covering too many undefined topics in too many loose ways. I would recommend prospective viewers bear in mind that Dale’s show could get better with different guests, but after a wet squib of an opening night, I would not keep my hopes up. If you want searing political fireworks, or even some mild entertainment, I suggest you look elsewhere.
Iain Dale’s “All Talk” is running from August 5-13 at Pleasance at EICC, Sidlaw Theatre.
Image provided to The Student as press material.