The White House Murder Case

FOUR STARS "this immaculate production by Christopher Morahan floats in an unspecified era, allowing the play to live as a surrealist satire, a timeless meditation upon war and power. Reminiscent of Mash and In The Loop..."
Daily Telegraph Read the full review

"dramatically ambitious, utterly original and viciously funny. Director Christopher Morahan handles this complex satire with panache."
Time Out

“Catch 22 meets The West Wing in this UK premiere of Jules Feiffer’s 1970 satire on the lengths US politicians will go to be re-elected.”
The Stage

“The result is a sharp but witty attack on Governmental expediency and empire building"
British Theatre Guide

“could well go to the West End with its excellent cast.”
The Public Reviews

A Presidential election is pending in the USA.
The country is at war.
A nerve gas, which should not have been deployed in the first place, catches in the wind and kills 750 American soldiers. How can this be spun to the voting public, especially when the current President’s wife is a ‘make love not war’ protestor? And then as the soldiers are dying and the White House prevaricates, a murder is committed.

A darkly satirical political thriller written in 1970 by Jules Feiffer, the celebrated American cartoonist, playwright and novelist, it was set around 40 years in the future – right now.

This is the play’s UK premiere.

Jules Feiffer’s plays include Little Murders (1967), which was directed for the RSC by Christopher Morahan. Feiffer won an Obie award for both Little Murders and The White House Murder Case, and is the recipient of an Academy Award as well as the Pulitzer prize.

Christopher Morahan is one of the most successful television, film and theatre directors of the last 60 years. He is the co-director of The Jewel in the Crown and was the Associate Director at the National Theatre for ten years. The last production he directed at the Orange Tree was JB Priestley’s hugely popular The Linden Tree (2006).

Running time: 2hrs 5 mins approximately

Production photos by Robert Day