Reviewed by: Catriona Moore
Author: Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky

Co-written by Robert Khan, head of law reform at the Law Society and an Islington councillor, there’s not a single aspect of Coalition, a biting and very funny satire on the dying months of the coalition government in 2015, that isn’t chillingly believable.

It might be best avoided by anyone who wants to resist cynicism about politics and politicians. But for those of us who look at what has happened to the Liberal Democrats in government with a mixture of horror and fascination, it’s a delight.

You might think that making the Lib Dem deputy prime minister Matt Cooper look ridiculous, out of the loop, desperate for the prime minister’s attention, at the mercy of constant defection threats from his backbenchers, is like shooting fish in a barrel. And there are plenty of moments of innocent merriment.

But what gives it an edge is its portrayal of a world where there are no rules, either legal or moral. In this game of ‘coalition chess’, neither hapless Matt Cooper nor the gruesome Tory minister without portfolio, played by Phill Jupitus, play by rules of any kind. While politics will always be a boys’ game for some, there will always be a few players - Matt Cooper’s special adviser, or the energy secretary who resigns and causes a by-election - who find that they can’t do without values entirely.

Catriona Moore is a freelance writer and editor

  • Coalition is at the Pleasance Islington until 10 March

Picture of Matt Cooper by Idil Sukan

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