Theatre review: Clarion

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: The professional critics haven't been invited to review this yet.

Although maybe it would be best if the newspaper reviewers' invitations got mysteriously lost in the post, as some of them might find Clarion a bit close to home. The Daily Clarion is a right-wing newspaper which has led with scare-stories about immigrants for a solid year, and is generally considered to be somewhere between a national joke and a genuine incitement to hatred. (I couldn't possibly say if there's a real paper it might bear some resemblance to, but writer Mark Jagasia used to work at the Express.) Its only link to journalistic respectability is Verity (Clare Higgins,) a celebrated war correspondent who after a downturn in fortunes has been reduced to the Clarion's regular opinion columnist. The actual editorial policy is determined by a much-feared, unseen proprietor who made his fortune in topless burger bars, but the day-to-day agenda is set by the explosive, demented editor Morris (Greg Hicks.)