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3 December 2021 · Follow on Stagedoor

“Playwright James Graham has a gift for illuminating pivotal, but sometimes forgotten or overlooked moments in history, and shining a light on them in a way that makes us look at ourselves and the times we live through. His latest, co-produced by Headlong and directed by Jeremy Herrin, looks back to 1968 and the presidential election which Republican Richard Nixon won. But like the 2015 documentary of the same name which inspired it, Best of Enemies focuses on the 10 televised debates between William F Buckley Jr and Gore Vidal. They were by all accounts rivetingly great TV, but did they change the nature of political discourse forever? And was that change for good or ill?”

Overview

“A man should never turn down two things. Sex, and appearing on television.”

1968 – a year of protest that divided America. As two men fight to become the next President, all eyes are on the battle between two others: the cunningly conservative William F Buckley Jr., and the iconoclastic liberal Gore Vidal.

Beliefs are challenged and slurs slung as these political idols feud nightly in a new television format, debating the moral landscape of a shattered nation. Little do they know they're about to open up a new frontier in American politics, and transform television news forever...

Best of Enemies is the bold new play by James Graham (Quiz, Labour of Love), directed by Jeremy Herrin (This House, People, Places and Things).

Inspired by the documentary by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon.