National Trust

National Trust (longlisted for the 2022 Bruntwood prize) is a play set in contemporary Britain with friends and former lovers Peter Fraser and Eleanor Perry as its main characters. Ambitious and ruthless they agree to work together to climb the greasy poles of politics and journalism. As they rise, the rarified air they hoped to find at the top has turned foul leading to regret and blame. Their success is personally disastrous. The politician becomes an alcoholic and accepts bribes from Russia, losing sight of all moral values and control of his party and country in the process. The journalist's marriage fails, her child fights serious illness while her professional integrity is compromised as she is tempted into illegal phone hacking. Britain is pitched into a state of chaos by Fraser's policies and his weakness in the face of a hard-right group in Cabinet. Troops kill protesters in Manchester and Fraser's government falls to a vote of no confidence. He discovers too late that treachery runs deep and close allies have betrayed him from the beginning.