The importance of being earnest

Michael Billington is the Val Doonican of theatre criticism. He’s been at it since the days of black and white telly and he shows no sign of giving up. Starting at the Times in 1965, he moved to the Guardian in 1971 and there he remains, rocking, crooning and warbling. He reckons he’s spent 8,000 nights in the theatre, so he probably knows more about the subject than anyone alive apart from Peter Hall.

State of the Nation is his overview of the last six decades and he opens the book on a strident note. British post-war theatre, he announces, began not on VE Day, nor in 1955 with the first London performance of Waiting for Godot, but on 26 July 1945 when the Labour election landslide was declared. He remains touchingly loyal to this yardstick throughout, analysing every theatrical event and trend in relation to Britain’s political development. The result is highly selective. Just look at the index. The Arts Council gets 25 references, Harold Wilson 11, and a single play, Look Back in Anger, 17. There are just three references to Andrew Lloyd Webber while Ray Cooney, to take a major name at random, isn’t mentioned at all. Billington doesn’t really approve of the West End, ‘that perennial invalid’, and concentrates on ‘oppositional’ theatre and plays that put ‘a slice of England’ on stage.

Despite its narrow focus the book isn’t without its rewards. Billington revives the memory of neglected writers like Peter Barnes whose 1968 comedy The Ruling Class featured a deluded peer who was convinced he was the New Testament God. Asked how he knew he explained, ‘Simple. When I pray to Him I find I’m talking to myself.’ Thankfully Billington has an eye for a good joke.