[F]ormer Guardian journalist Michael White will be at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick on Monday 21 August at 5.45pm to talk about his experiences reporting on Margaret Thatcher, before a performance of Moira Buffini’s play Handbagged, which imagines what went on during the Iron Lady’s weekly audiences with the Queen.
Liz Stevenson’s production for Theatre by the Lake’s Summer Season has been collecting rave reviews, with The Cumberland News calling it “sparkling, scintillating and seriously funny”.
Michael White is well placed to tell a few tales of what Mrs Thatcher, later Lady Thatcher, was like during her many years in front-line politics. He joined the Guardian in 1971 (1971–74) and was the paper’s political correspondent from 1976-84, covering Mrs Thatcher’s 1979 election triumph and her two subsequent victories.
He moved to the US in 1984 as Washington Correspondent and was the newspaper’s political editor for 16 years from 1990.
White has already provided a note on the Thatcher years for the Handbagged programme. In it, he writes: “I first met her when she was Leader of the Opposition and I was the Guardian’s callow, young parliamentary sketch writer. From her standpoint the problem with me was the obvious fact that I was a long-haired pinko who answered back…
“It was the corridors of power, not the street, which got her in the end. By that stage she was dressing more like Catherine the Great than HMQ [Her Majesty the Queen].”
White will be in conversation with former Guardian journalist David Ward, who is Theatre by the Lake’s Programmes Editor.
To book tickets for the pre-show talk with Michael White, call the Box Office on 017687 74411. Tickets are free but booking is essential. To book for Handbagged or to find out more visit www.theatrebythelake.com or call the Box Office. At Theatre by the Lake until 4 November. Tickets from £10.
