And I hope the Labour Party will become a little more front foot, he says.
He was a stand in, of sorts, for Rupert Murdoch.
A young Bill Nighy played Le Rouxs sidekick.
David HareBaz Bamigboye
I re-read it annually.
Hare wrote the drama after embedding himself in former Labour leader Neil Kinnocks unsuccessful general election campaign in 1992.
Some argue otherwise, but this is Hares theatrical masterpiece, I believe.
Ralph FiennesCourtesy Theatre Royal Bath
His acute analysis mapped out exactly what caused Labours defeat.
Yet, theres something at the heart of the play that always stirs.
A sense of lingering hope, perhaps?
Hare has identified his next work.
He says that hes writing about the poor beating down the door of the rich.
In other words, Irving and Ellen Terry together did something as close to making a National Theatre as …
It very nearly became a National Theatre in 1905-6.
And then it was privatized and didnt.
So its a little story about subsidy and privatization of the arts.
Grace Pervadesruns at the Theatre Royal, Bath from June 27 through July 19, 2025.
Its part of a three-play Ralph Fiennes season in Bath next year.
DEADLINE:Were you surprised at Sunaks call for summer election and the manner in which he did it?
[in the rain outside Number 10 Downing Street]
DAVID HARE: Not really.
I mean, hes just as fed up with this government as the rest of us, isnt he?
In other words, it hasnt achieved anything.
Youve got to get something back from a job, havent you?
And I imagine he felt that.
DEADLINE:Yes, and the bad poll ratings.
Its not fun being Prime Minister in these circumstances, is it?
Especially because its not all entirely his fault.
I cant think of anyone less suited to politics than you.
And I dont mean that in any critical way.
And you could see he was getting very, very bad-tempered towards the end of this.
DEADLINE:Then to come up with this idea of National Service [for some young people].
HARE: Well, theyre tap dancing, arent they?
DEADLINE:And for want of a better phrase, and apologies, the schemes are rather harebrained.
HARE: Harebrained is exactly what they are.
I mean, theyre sort of mad schemes.
Then you say, Whoops.
No, theyre not actually going into battle.
And your idea has crumbled in 24 hours, hasnt it?
DEADLINE:And what do you say of the opposition, the Labour Party?
Major does believe that his brand of conservatism helps people in their lives and makes their lives better.
And so Starmer has got a massive problem to make people believe in politics again.
DEADLINE:Youre right, though its not Starmers fault.
Do you feel that the country has been totally betrayed over these past 14 years?
HARE: I just listened to a podcast that a friend had told me to listen to last night.
Not once does he talk about the effect.
And that has happened since I wrote that play [Absence of War].
So at a practical level, politics has been astonishingly badly administered for the last 14 years.
At the administrative level, its not functioning because none of the countrys major internal problems are being addressed.
Its an act of self-harm, and theyve impoverished the country.
And so this is obviously not a very healthy state of affairs, but it is perfectly clear.
Just look at the small boats question.
Small boats and the question of immigration can only be solved if you have goodwill between France and England.
And clearly theres no goodwill at the moment between France and England.
And so it does make the election a little bit unreal.
DEADLINE:It does, absolutely.
And I think Starmer will need to come out of his hutch at some point.
DEADLINE:Yes, I think he does.
At heart hes a smart guy, do you not think?
HARE: I dont know him at all.
Do you know him?
DEADLINE:I dont.
We know people who do though.
He looks like an uncle.
But I think hes got that ruthless streak through him that just wants to succeed.
HARE: Well, clearly he has.
And clearly hes not frightened to do what he needs to do to get power.
DEADLINE:A bit more fire in the belly, I think.
HARE: Well, I think this is what Ive been going on about for some time.
I think the great question of the 21st century is expressed through migration.
Those two things are incompatible.
And that means people have to be allowed to move freely across borders.
And that question about migration is obviously the question that in America is very powerful in Europe.
Were seeing the rise of the right in Germany and France in Hungary.
And so thats the 21st century question.
And theyre all on the move.
And what are we going to do?
DEADLINE:Thats going to be down to willingness and cost.
Cameron cant touch that question because half his party believes one thing.
He allowed immigration effectively because he was a free market capitalist.
And so that party has foundered on the rock of that question.
Its going to get more urgent as more people are displaced.
In other words, Northern France is becoming criminalized by these incredibly unpleasant gangs that are now using guns.
And so France has got a major criminal problem out of it.
But the French havegot a real problem of organized crime.
DEADLINE:I heard about that [criminal gangs in France] when I was in Cannes.
Will it spread here?
Whether they are or not, I dont know.
DEADLINE:David, does any of this present an idea fora play or a screen drama?
DEADLINE:Is that something youre actively doing now?
HARE: Yeah, absolutely.
DEADLINE:What, for the theatre?
HARE: Im not telling you, Baz.
DEADLINE:Have you…
HARE: I dont want to read about it in Deadline.
DEADLINE:Have you been commissioned to do such a piece?
DEADLINE:Can you not tell me by whom?
HARE: No, I cant Baz, honestly, because they get so upset when you do.
DEADLINE:So that tells me its more electronic media than treading the boards?
HARE: Oh, I dont know.
I think theater people are perfectly capable of getting upset.
Have you never met an angry person from the theater?
DEADLINE:All the time.
Thats why I enjoy covering…
HARE: You must know some very nice people.
DEADLINE: I just peeped at the FT [Financial Times] before meeting you.
I think he was the person who least believed what was happening.
Theres a thing about him travelling in a plane.
Down from wherever he was up in the north in his constituency.
And these results were coming in about the landslide.
And he was, I think, genuinely amazed.
And Im sure Keir Starmer wont feel any security for the next five weeks.
DEADLINE:I think youre right.
HARE: Its what I think they call whipped dog syndrome.
DEADLINE:Whipped dog syndrome?
DEADLINE:What do you think about the way the election is being covered on TV?
HARE: Well, its much fuller than it is in the newspapers, isnt it?
What I mean is that this is where people are now getting their news.
And so the coverage is not much of the issues.
Its of the personalities, isnt it?
But having said that, lets say the television seems a great deal more fair-minded than the press does.
Wouldnt you say that?
DEADLINE:Well, yes and no.
HARE: Oh, it is.
But I dont mind that.
In other words, the concept of balance is discussed.
That makes the press even angrier, doesnt it?
DEADLINE:Well, thats why I got out of it.
And what about Sky?
Do you ever watch them?
HARE: Yeah, shes very good, isnt she?
HARE: Shes very, very good.
Beth Rigby, dont you think?
DEADLINE:Im a huge fan of hers.
She holds all of them to account.
HARE: I think shes really smart and sort of ahead.
you’ve got the option to tell shes thought things through often more than the interviewee has.
HARE: Hes what they call the safe pair of hands, isnt he?
Meaning hes not going to get into trouble, is he?
