The Gang of Three is the behind-the-scenes look at the friendship and rivalries between three prominent Labour Party figures and Oxford University friends during the 1970s. Roy Jenkins (Hywel Morgan), Tony Crosland (Alan Cox), and Denis Healey (Colin Tierney).

The story begins with a meeting in Jenkins’ home with Crosland to discuss the current state of the party. At the time, Jenkins still has a live-in chef, which Crosland cannot resist the smell of, when he decides to stay for dinner after a disagreement which saw him about to storm out.

Harold Wilson has shockingly handed in his resignation, which means the top job is available and the three meet up to discuss who should be the running and which members of the party they need to be aware of, who could stab them in the back.

We are witnesses to a conversation between the younger Jenkins and Crosland in a dormitory at Oxford University where there eluded a brief liaison between the two. However, it wasn’t particularly a revelation as we learn at the beginning that Jenkins had supported the “Sexual Offences Act” in 1967 while he was Home Secretary.

Kirsty Patrick Ward directs a strong cast through the careers and lives of three strong politicians who devoted their lives to their jobs but couldn’t put their rivalries aside to achieve their best. However, the cast of Three doesn’t have that problem and delivers a slice of political history and drama from the writers Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky.

The Gang of Three does leave the audience with an insight into how The Gang of Four, known as the SDP, was formed, although I hadn’t realised that Denis Healey had been asked to join them at the time. There’s a lot to digest in the 90-minute play, but then that’s to be expected, as politics has never been straightforward.

For more information about The Gang of Three and future productions at The King’s Head Theatre please use the link below.

Four Stars.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan

https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/6/by-robert-khan-tom-salinsky/the-gang-of-three

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/sexual-offences-act-1967/sexual-offences-act-1967/

More information about The Gang of Three.

Ostensibly friends, contemporaries at Oxford and embarking on their historic quest to make the Labour party Britain’s natural party of government, The Gang of Three tells the story of how their fractured friendships and bitter rivalries came to destroy their mutual goal, instead ushering in eighteen years of Tory rule.

Leading play-writing duo Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky return to the King’s Head, following two sell-out runs of their critically acclaimed play Brexit, which transferred from the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019. Their previous hits have included Coalition, Kingmaker and Impossible.


NEW

CAST AND CREATIVES

CAST

Alan Cox | Tony Crosland
Hywel Morgan | Roy Jenkins
Colin Tierney | Denis Healey

CREATIVES

Writers | Robert Khan & Tom Salinsky
Director | Kirsty Patrick Ward
Set & Costume Designer | Libby Watson
Lighting Designer | Jamie Platt
Sound Designer | Dominic Brennan
Movement Director | Ira Mandela Siobhan
Casting Director | Harry Gilbert
WHAM Designer | Craig Forrest-Thomas
WHAM Associate | Hannah Locke
Stage Management | Felix Dunning
Production Management | Dan Weager
Press | David Burns
Marketing | Cup of Ambition
Social Media & Content Assistant | Katie Kirkpatrick
Graphic Design | Laura Whitehouse
Video Content | Erica Belton for Pip Films

Producers | The Spontaneity Shop
General Management | James Quaife