@ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on Tue 17 Nov 2015
A live participatory show discussing current political affairs, Two Minute Manifesto, the brain child of Sarah Beattie-Smith and David Greig, is certainly an interesting and thought-provoking way to spend a dreich evening in Edinburgh.
The show opens with a musical interlude from A New International and then Beattie-Smith and Greig get us underway. They are personable hosts, who ask informative questions of their eclectic panel but the presenting lacks a slickness which would take the show to the next level. That said, they kick off with the dominance in Scottish politics of the SNP and the guests for the evening enter into a discussion about whether or not chinks have started to be seen in the armour of the party; Joyce McMillan’s take being that “in a party with such a rush of new members it is inevitable that there will be more cracks.”
The audience silently nod in agreement as they await the key stage of the show – the manifestos. Times columnist, Alex Massie, is up first with his persuasive speech on the possibility of introducing Academy Schools to Scotland. His idea generates much discussion amongst both the panel and the audience; the majority of whom vote in favour of his suggestion after hearing statistics about leading schools in Scotland when held up against Academies.
Next up is feminist, Lesley Orr, with her plans for a Gender Equality Bill. There is some confusion in the audience about terms such as “gender budgeting” and “gender mainstreaming” and still more around what Orr is really campaigning for. Beattie-Smith tries to pull this out a bit more but with nothing too concrete to really debate – it would be a brave person to argue against gender equality – her manifesto too is passed.
The show picks up again with a delightful poem by Edinburgh Makar, Christine De Luca, about Sir Eduardo Paolizzi’s statue, The Manuscript of Monte Cassino, another song from A New International and a sharing of audience ideas about where to take Two Minute Manifesto on tour.
There is plenty of laughter, engaging conversation and, given the potentially controversial nature of the topics, a laidback and pleasant atmosphere is admirably retained by the hosts throughout, who can easily work on the preparation and polish as they go out on the road in 2016.
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