The Constituent, Old Vic, review: James Corden impresses as a sobbing emblem of Broken Britain
6 / 10
In a bold (some might say credulity-testing) move, Corden, 45, plays Alec an ex-serviceman who experienced traumatic tours of duty in Afghanistan. First seen installing security equipment in the constituency office of a Leftish opposition MP called Monica (Anna Maxwell Martin), he’s initially an innocuous gobby geezer (Corden on terra cognita). It turns out the pair went to the same school and grew up on the same street. “I’m always here if you need me,” she kindly offers, when it emerges he’s having domestic battles; Alec is distressed by his current divorce and separation from his children. That’s the basic compact of a good MP, isn’t it? But it becomes apparent that Monica may be intensifying his frustrations. Alec’s faith in his assumed ally to address his grievances (and even advance ideas about legislation to redress systemic bias, as he sees it, against men) is bound to meet a reality-check.
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