Not quite a play but quite an impact

Almeida Theatre

I was in two minds whether to round up the reviews of Caryl Churchill‘s latest play. It only last 20 minutes, the run is short and sold out, and there weren’t many reviews. But she is an important voice in theatre and the reviews are on the whole enthusaistic. Triumph (an anagram of Hi Trump) starts with Kate O’Flynn’s press officer talking about her Leader’s triumphs. Later we find her and her journalist lover, played by Matthew Beard, in bed, at which time he tells her the reality of the leader’s vile behaviour. Next, on the lectern, she reveals the truth, only to find the people are even more convinced in their support. James Macdonald directs.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton described the work: ‘Triumph isn’t quite a play. At just over 15 minutes, you’d call it a jeu d’esprit, or a sketch, except that fails to describe its utterly chilling quality. Churchill has taken the words the Roman historian Suetonius used to describe the cruelty of emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian and put them into the mouth of a modern-day media manipulator. All the words used to describe the tyrant are from Suetonius as a panel on Miriam Buether’s red-hued set announces; all the echoes are for us to find.’ She explained: ‘Directed with crisp straightforwardness by James Macdonald, Triumph makes its point by using sheer excess of Suetonius’s descriptions. This gory cruelty is historic, yet it speaks utterly to the dangers of anyone seeking absolute power.’ She continued: ‘Triumph is a reminder of the power of Churchill’s imagination: the way her mind makes dramatic leaps and forges links that most people do not see’.

David Benedict of The Stage stated: ‘It’s more of a politicised sketch than a play, but it’s hugely welcome that at 88, Churchill’s urge to question the world theatrically remains undimmed.’

The Financial Times‘ Sarah Hemming had a similar view: ‘it has the quality of a cautionary sketch and it runs for only a week. But it shares with much of her work that scalpel-like wit and use of fantasy to hold a dark mirror up to society.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis commented: ‘Like all of Churchill’s most recent works, it is a bright miniature with a crystalline single idea, straightforward in its message. It contains little of the metaphysical hijinks, formal experimentation or character depth of her great earlier plays. The passages describing the attitudes and acts of “the emperor” apparently come directly from Suetonius. I confess it’s not a work I’m familiar with, but Churchill isn’t the first person to draw parallels between the orange president and Nero, Caligula or Claudius.’

The Times’ Clive Davis was not a fan: ‘It’s not so much a play, more a fragment (…) As a satire on Donald Trump’s presidency, it’s of passing interest. Any playwright who didn’t happen to be the octogenarian grande dame of radical theatre would probably have been told to come back with something more original than the idea of using Suetonius as a metaphor for the mayhem in Washington.’ He questioned: ’how deeply can you explore any character in just 20 minutes? Is this theatre for the TikTok generation?’

Critics’ average rating 3.6⭑

You can see Triumph at The Almeida theatre until 23 October 2026. Buy tickets (returns only) from almeida.co.uk

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