Mark Bibby Jackson reviews Triumph by Caryl Churchill currently playing a limited run at London’s Almeida Theatre.
Triumph is a very contemporary play. A press secretary (Iris) gives a briefing to the assembled media. She explains all the great deeds the ruler has performed, how wonderful a leader he is. Although the play is set in Imperial Rome, based on Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars, the briefings are clearly from the White House, the clothes are modern and the accents American.
We are left in no doubt as to who author Caryl Churchill has basing the modern day emperor, even before the reference to the Emperor refusing the title of king as he is a god. After all his name is hidden in plain sight within the title.
At the start of the play Iris meets Marcus. Initially, she is unaware he’s a journalist who attends her briefings. A one-night stand becomes a relationship as Marcus, played by Matthew Beard, becomes her moral compass informing her of the atrocities the Emperor has committed.
Although she states she’s 101% behind the Emperor, we sense this will soon wane.
What is amazing about this play is it runs for only 15 to 20 minutes. Within that time the plot moves, characters develop and the dialogue flows to greater effect than in many plays that are much longer.
O’Flynn is excellent as the press secretary delivering her lines professionally but with a great sense of humour, and excellent comic timing. Beard plays good supporting role, as the lovestruck idealist.
James Macdonald’s direction is crisp and simple. Iris addresses the audience as if we are at the briefing or watching the television. The vast screen on the stage emphasises this point.
The set design remains equally focused. The stage is bare apart from the podium from which Iris delivers her briefings, the bed in which she and Marcus make love, and the television screen. There is nothing here to distract us from the message.
This message is as true now as at the time of the Roman Emperors. The twin perils of propaganda and of dictatorship, made even more poignant as Triumph is being show in the week that a certain President has sacked yet another blonde female press secretary. Iris is a brunette but wears a wig for her job.
At the end she asks the assembled audience whether we have any questions. It is an old ploy used during restoration comedies. The audience remains silent. Does this condone the behaviour of the emperor? Or are we too scared to speak out.
Churchill has never been too afraid to speak, nor to challenge prevailing orthodoxies. Triumph continues this legacy. Proof that even at 88, one of the finest playwrights of the last few decades still has plenty to say.
Triumph, The Almeida
Triumph runs at the Almeida Theatre London from 16-23 October, 2026. It is approximately 15 minutes long. Tickets cost £10. The Almeida will also host the world premiere of Three and a Bit, a collection of short plays by Caryl Churchill, directed by James Macdonald from14 January – 13 March 2027.
