After 50 years, can’t we shut down this cult of Margaret Thatcher? Just look at the mess she made of Britain | Polly Toynbee
A whole slew of dramas and plays mark half a century since her election as Tory leader. But there is too much gloss, when so many people are still suffering
Now she’s an opera. Yet another myth-making apotheosis lifts Margaret Thatcher to iconic realms, crafting for her an image recalling Elizabeth I. Historian Dominic Sandbrook is writing the libretto of her story, as one Thatcher tribute act trips over the next. This week saw James Graham’s Brian and Maggie drama about an interview that helped tip her towards her downfall. Next week, Radio 4 brings us When Larry met Maggie, Tim Walker’s play imagining scenes when Laurence Olivier coached the ingenue education secretary in the art of wooing and even seducing audiences.
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Thatcher’s election as leader of her party. I started counting but lost track of the myriad actors who have played her, some of the greatest of our time. Harriet Walter was magnificent, as ever. So were Gillian Anderson and Meryl Streep. Lesley Manville was just as fine, as was Patricia Hodge, and I’m sure Frances Barber will be next week in Walker’s radio play. None but royalty of stage and screen are fit to play her.
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
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