The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson...

 Last Saturday night Stuart and I went to see Jonathan Maitland’s topical satire The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson at the Park Theatre in London's glitzy Finsbury Park.

The play is in two parts. The first half takes place at a dinner party chez Johnson (played by Will Barton) in February 2016 when the host was pressed into making a decision, not least by Michael Gove, about his attitude to Europe. The jokes are luke-warm but amusing.

The play picks up in the second half though, which takes place in 2029. It would be a pity to spoil all the surprises but the hero, now presenting The Apprentice on television, is invited to stand for the fourth time as prime minister and secure Britain’s re-entry into Europe (or “Brentry” as it becomes known).

I particularly liked the joke about Dominic Raab. Johnson refers to him as, "Dominic Raab... Two As and a B." Ouch!

Churchill, Blair and Thatcher drop in on our indecisive hero, but these visitors appear as mere caricatures - albeit funny ones - rather than historic muses. And the allegory of the last supper and Christ doesn’t really come off.

I guess the the problem with creating a play about Boris Johnson is that it rather reinforces the man's inflated sense of his own importance. And I think that is one sense he does not lack.

Fun night out though.