Corruption | 2hrs 40mins. One intermission. | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater | 150 West 65th Street | 212-239-6200

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Truth is on the line in Corruption, a recent-history play which dramatizes the News International phone hacking scandal that briefly threatened Rupert Murdoch’s empire, shut down one paper, and resulted in a pitiful handful of arrests and prison sentences. J.T. Rogers’s spin on verity is basic: the good guys believe in it, and the bad guys think it’s a commodity to be manipulated for profit. As a top Murdoch lawyer explains, “[T]he world that you are fighting for no longer exists. Government, privacy, truth: these are malleable now. To be changed, or discarded, as those above us see fit.” Not exactly news, but noted.

As a reporter (sorta), I therefore feel the burden of honesty: produced by Lincoln Center Theater, Corruption has a strong, versatile cast and worthy message, but a great play it is not. Rogers—a Tony winner for Oslo, also heavily researched—spoon-feeds the audience too much obvious exposition while starving his characters of nuance and vitality. This is the story of sometimes bumbling MP Tom Watson (Toby Stephens) taking down ice-cold media queen Rebekah Brooks (Saffron Burrows). He’s a blokey Saint George in a........

© Observer