A dramatist seeks to understand the financial crisis.
Sam Strong’s production is supple, well fleshed and funny. Sydney Morning Herald
A vivid production ... with a superb cast. The Australian
Sam Strong’s production is clear, breezy and light on its feet. Time Out Sydney
Superbly executed theatre. Sydney Morning Herald
... full credit to Strong’s vision. This is a dazzling main stage debut. Sun Herald
Watch an interview with director Sam Strong and actor Amber McMahon discussing The Power of Yeshere
David Hare
Sam Strong
John Derum, Jonathan Elsom, Russell Kiefel, Brian Lipson, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Amber McMahon, Rhys Muldoon, Luke Mullins, Marshall Napier, Graham Rouse, Christopher Stollery and David Whitney
“A dramatist seeks to understand the financial crisis” is what David Hare has subtitled his new play. Just as Dante went into Hell to find love Hare plunges into the financial inferno in search of some sense. The Power of Yes is about his own journey from bewildered everyman to dinner companion with one of the world’s financial gods. Along the way we get a frightening and funny parade of the key players, and a brilliant illumination of one of the biggest cock-ups in the history of capitalism.
Following on from Stuff Happens and Gethsemane, The Power of Yes crowns a Company B/David Hare trilogy about the power-players of the new millennium. In The Power of Yes, Hare puts the giants of finance on stage in their own words and looks for where it all went wrong. In some ways it’s a search for a villain, in other ways it’s a cheeky act of social service – turning the mess into a theatrical adventure for financial experts and householders alike.
The Power of Yes is about as urgent and immediate as theatre can get, but it’s also about the grand old themes: greed, ambition, pride and knowing better. Sam Strong makes his Company B Belvoir debut with this magnificent, witty piece of theatrical arraignment.
(Masters of the Universe, we dare you …)
Listen to David Hare and Australian playwright Michael Gurr discuss the power and failure of language on ABC Radio National's Artworks prgram. Download it here.
