Customer Reviews

Frost/Nixon: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays)

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I've yet to see Peter Morgan's "The Queen," but based on his new play "Frost/Nixon" it's clear that Morgan is a very skillful dramatist. "F/N" is fluid, intriguing, and a quick read. The "battle" between the two main characters is what the media hype has been focused on, but just as interesting is the build up: Frost (aptly named) is the master of cool; Nixon, we know, sweats and stammers but does his best to remain presidential.

The play is narrated by two characters, one a Frost adviser, one a Nixon chief of staff. The plot, therefore, zings along, much like a political thriller, as we wait for the main event: the infamous TV interviews. Each man has something at stake; each is hard-nosed and egotistical.

"F/N" has a screenplay quality to it. Some will accuse it of being more like film than like theatre. But, in the end, it entertains and makes you think about stardom, dishonor, and the cult of personality that TV has wrought. In "F/N", we see the birth of infotainment, before it had a name.

Peter Morgan, <strong>Frost/Nixon</strong> (Faber and Faber, 2006)

In general, I like to read the book before I see the movie, which is why it's now 2011 and I still haven't seen Ron Howard's much-nominated 2008 film <em>Frost/Nixon</em>; I just got round to reading the play upon which it is based. And a very good one it is, though I must say I've been on a very good run where play-reading is concerned; when your competition is Tracy Letts, Martin McDonagh, and the like, it's a bit hard to stand out from the pack. Morgan, however, holds his own very well as he explores the mental states not only of Frost and Nixon in the days leading up to the infamous 1977 television interviews, but also the mental states of a number of other key players. Is any of it even remotely accurate? I don't think we'll ever know, but Morgan is convincing and this is fiction, albeit docudrama, so the questions is ultimately irrelevant, and the consideration probably shouldn't get in the way of what is a cracking good story, very well told, in any case. Recommended, even after you've seen the movie. ****