I was in London at a meeting and was lucky enough to get a ticket for a performance of the new production of the Wizard of Oz straight from Broadway. It was getting a lot of publicity both for using real politicians in some roles and for the mystery new ending. All theatergoers were sworn to secrecy and, so far, there had been no leaks.

I loved the Judy Garland version as a child, mostly for the songs and colourful sets. I hadn’t realised at that time the allegorical nature of the film. Dorothy is, of course, all of us. Torn from a farm in Kansas, she yearns for peace to raise a family, a roof over her head and food on the table. All she wants is to return to Auntie Em, played by MAGA on Broadway and by Deform (sic)Party members in London.

I was uncertain at first about the wisdom of using politicians for Dorothy’s three companions, so I read all the American reviews. Republican Senators had done well in the ensemble representation of the cowardly lion, but Prime Minister Starmer filled the role as if he was born to play it.

The straw man was a bit of a disappointment on both sides of the Atlantic. Special Envoy Witkoff was a bit limp. Prime Minister in Waiting Farage had little substaance as we have come to expect but his energy in the role was impressive.

Where Broadway scored heavily was in the choice of Vice President Vance as the tin man without a heart. One critic said he seemed designed by nature to play the part: ‘His choice to model his performance on a Chicago hoodlum from the prohibition years was inspired,’ In London the decision to use Tory Prime Ministers from the last ten years backfired since, predictably, none of them had bothered to learn their lines.

It did cause a hilarious moment, however. Straw man Farage missed a cue because of tin man forgetting a line. The actors stepped out of character to have an argument on stage. The audience was aghast until a ghostly voice from the prompt box was clearly audible as the producer used decidedly unparliamentary language to quell the fight.