Alliance the play

1941. Winter. The Nazis are bombing Britain into oblivion; Russia is draining our resources; the USA reels from a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and refuses our cries for help; the Prime Minister desperately crosses the Atlantic by sea to appeal in person to the US military, to Congress and to the President at the White House family Christmas - and suffers a heart attack. Churchill is seriously not welcome. Did the special relationship arise out of this? Allies?

Alliance unwraps the "special relationship".

The Proposed Production:

A Play by Giles Cole © Holofcener Ltd

Director: Stephen Unwin
Designer: Simon Higlett
Casting: Ginny Schiller
Production Manager: Roger Richardson

Production planned for opening early in 2022, followed by a UK national tour and transfer to London's West End.

Outline

A NEW play for 8 actors (6m & 2f). Excellent, fresh, new writing commissioned from Giles Cole by Holofcener Ltd
An arresting, fascinating, and dramatic story: Churchill leaves London to be blitzed - and stays with President Roosevelt in the White House for three weeks over Christmas and New Year 1941/42 desperate to change the disaster that was WWII Britain
"The Special Relationship" between the USA and the UK nearly failed

This production has West End appeal; UK No1 touring venue appeal, and the potential to tour successfully in the USA
Mature theatre-going audiences, history lovers and younger audiences at GCSE and A-AS level will enjoy this production for its media footage, fascinating characters, laughs and powerful, emotionally charged storyline.
The staging is simple and clean, with video projection of historical wartime Pathé Newsreel with relevant items of furniture on stage - sideboard, leather chairs, desk
An acting company of 8 portray the powerful, historical figures of the day:
- Prime Minister Winston S Churchill
- President Franklin D Roosevelt
- First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
- Harry Hopkins
- Clementine Churchill
- General George C Marshall
- Admiral Harold R. Stark
- Alonzo Fields, the black White House butler
- (and Churchill's Secretarial Assistant)

Synopsis

Winter. 1941. The darkest days of World War II. Britain is struggling under Nazi bombardment. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is having to strike a deal with Stalin in Russia. America is the ally Britain really needs - but neutral America is stinging from a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. US President Franklin D Roosevelt is now intent on revenge in the Far East. If America is to be an ally, Churchill has to steer FDR away from fighting Japan to fighting a war across the Atlantic Ocean, in Europe, first. How?

Churchill invites himself to the White House to meet the President. FDR and Churchill have met before, and FDR still smarts from Churchill's snub. Churchill considers the dangerous Atlantic crossing to be a risk worth taking. This will not be an easy meeting.

The play lifts the lid on what happened (and what might have happened!) when Churchill landed in the White House, and exploded Eleanor Roosevelt's quiet, private family Christmas and their New Year celebrations in 1941/42. It exposes her animosity to Churchill; puts the presidential marital relationship under a microscope; reveals FDR's reluctance to countermand US military advisers, and shows how Churchill's health, and personal habits, made matters even worse.

Giles Cole's deliciously amusing, sharp, perceptive and eloquent script, discloses how, whilst fighting the implacable US General Marshall, coaxing the reluctant and evasive President, being obsequiously charming with Eleanor and direct with the White House staff, Churchill leans on FDR's diplomat Harry Hopkins for support and whisky. Through a series of fast-moving scenes, set against a wartime backdrop of Pathé Newsreel films, the play explores the emerging relationship between the two heads of state under the fierce gaze of Eleanor Roosevelt, as they establish a "special relationship" that could enable the USA to become the UK's prime ally in World War II, if it comes off , which looks unlikely when Churchill suffers a heart attack and has to convince Congress to become Britain's ally.

There's an account of Churchill's unnerving return Atlantic crossing and an acknowledgement of the two nations' relationship, that is today reflected in the Allies sculpture in New Bond Street, London W1.

This is an especially topical production, reflected in the light of today's political situation.