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Eve Vamvas reviews Lord
Jeffrey Archer's latest bid for fame and acclaim
Jeffrey Archer is innocent. The
verdict comes in six nights and two matinees a week as he
takes the lead role in his third play, The Accused. This is
the first time that Archer has trodden the boards himself in a
bona fide theatrical production, complete with ticket-paying
public and interval ice creams. And the audience could need
the stubs and spoons as a reminder that this is theatre and
not the Old Bailey, the plotline is so blurred between fact
and fiction. Lord Archer plays the part of Dr Patrick
Sherwood, a prominent man defending himself against a charge
of murder. Aside from the murder charge and his character's
profession, surely the first time even Archer has passed
himself off as a brain surgeon, the content bears a striking
resemblance to some of his more recent real life scrapes.
The play was Archer's reaction
to his forced withdrawal from the London mayoral race a year
ago and subsequent five year suspension from the Conservative
party. "I was desperately fed up, broken - and the
catharsis was getting up in the morning, and trying to do
something, trying to get one's mind off everything and put
something down on paper." That something has resulted in
a fictional courtroom drama that includes an illicit sexual
relationship, distinguishing marks on the defendant's torso
and the whys and wherefores of perjury.
"I'm never sure of what my
ten-year-old will be up to next," Jeffrey Archer's mother
noted with prescience in her weekly column in the Weston
Mercury in 1951. Jeffrey was Lola and William Archer's second
son - their first, also called Jeffrey, was born and given up
for adoption before they were married. There is some confusion
as to William Archer's profession; accounts vary from his
decoration in the First World War, through to accusations of
forgery, petty fraud, bigamy and even the possibility of a
failed crack at politics. Perhaps Jeffrey's "genius for
inaccurate précis" - his own wife's description - was
inherited, certainly his ambition was clear at an early age.
Attending Brasenose College on
the basis of A level results and a University of California
degree, which have since been questioned, Archer represented
both Oxford and England running the 100 yards. His athletic
success has been described as a triumph of determination
rather than natural talent, supported by a recently unearthed
piece of glorious film footage showing him jumping the gun
three times in a university race in 1964. Contrary to the
rules, he was forgiven. Such enthusiasm has become a recurring
theme in Archer's life, as has the forgiveness that inevitably
follows.
The first main obstacle to his
political ambitions arrived in the form of a poor investment
in 1974. After losing £425,000 in a Canadian company,
Aquablast, he resigned as Conservative MP but was
philosophically feisty. "I can't expect people to have
trust and respect for a man who has behaved so stupidly. But
that doesn't mean I'm now going to crawl away and hide. I will
be fighting back." The modus operandi for repaying his
debts, which he frequently boasts took only seven years, was
to take the improbable route of becoming a best-selling
novelist. One of his former editors is reported to have
gossiped "Jeffrey is a wonderful story-teller, it just
takes a year's editing to put it into proper English."
Archer was obviously unfazed by such criticism and with his
unparalleled confidence enquired as to the possibility of
being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Irrespective of literary merit,
Archer wrote his way to a personal fortune. But he was
determined to rebuild his standing in the Conservative Party
and by 1986 had risen to be its deputy Chairman. Disaster No 2
came in the shape of Monica Coghlan, a prostitute he was
adamant he had never met. Their lack of acquaintance did not
hamper his willingness to give her £2,000 and the News of the
World a scoop. His "foolishness" forced him to
resign once more and led to the now infamous libel action
against the Daily Star. Intelligent and cultured, Mary Archer
shone as the paragon of ideal womanhood undermining
suggestions that Jeffrey might have less fragrant needs
fulfilled outside the marriage. In the 'his word against mine'
stakes, Monica didn't stand a chance. Although half a million
pounds the richer - pledges to donate the compensation remain
a point of discussion, it was a tainted victory and his
political career should have been over.
But he'd come back before and
he could do it again. Archer started working on a PR strategy
that would eclipse any distasteful errors of judgement. He
toured constituencies relentlessly while bashing out
bestsellers, signing a three-book deal worth £3m with Harper
Collins. He gained notoriety as an art collector, even though
it is rumoured that he used the Picasso and Matisse as
landmarks while directing house guests to the lavatory. He
even became a fundraiser for the Kurds, claiming to have
raised £57 million, although others have put the figure at a
more modest £3.8m. Archer's rehabilitation plan was so
effective that in 1992 he was given a peerage and became front
runner for the Tory Party chairmanship.
But Disaster No 3 was already
on the horizon. Buying shares in a TV company, the value of
which promptly increased with talk of a takeover, was not
necessarily newsworthy in itself. But Mary's role as a
director of the company made accusations of insider dealing
inevitable. A DTI investigation supported his strenuous
denials of any wrongdoing, but significant damage was done.
Incredibly, the intricacies of
Archer's professional and personal life did not prevent him
becoming the Tory candidate for London Mayor. Political
commentators have noted that he won the nomination through
default - a combination of his fervour to do the job and the
Tory's lack of direction. His final disaster to date exploded
into a catastrophe when the 1987 libel trial came back to
haunt him. A former friend, Ted Francis, claimed that Archer
had asked him to provide a false alibi for the evening that
the Daily Star alleged he had been with Monica Coghlan. Though
the alibi was not used - the newspaper eventually claimed a
different date for the liaison - even Archer couldn't dodge
allegations of conspiracy to perjure and stood down.
With the Daily Star expecting
£3m, a refund of £500,000 in damages, £700,000 in legal
costs, plus interest and threatening to reopen the libel case,
a referral to the Conservative Party's Ethics and Integrity
Committee and loss of the Tory whip in the House of Lords
effectively expelling him from the party; life was looking
grim.
Even the indomitable Baron
Archer of Weston-super-Mare was forced to admit that a
political career was finally out of the question. A quiet
retirement watching the cricket at Grantchester beckoned but
he couldn't resist another comeback, hence this reincarnation
as an actor. His stage debut coincidentally fell on the exact
same day that he faced five criminal charges arising from the
fabricated alibi - two of perjury, two of obstruction of
justice and one of using a false instrument - an enviable
publicity coup for any opening night.
Such events are bound to
emphasise the self-revelatory content of the play's script,
also assisted by Archer being so recognisably himself in looks
and voice. But aside from the obvious parallels between Archer
and Sutherland including cringe-worthy quips about his sex
life The Accused also ridicules the legal process to the
extent where the play might possibly constitute contempt of
court. A lesser mortal would be intimidated by Archer's rap
sheet, but he appears to find it amusing. The final twist, in
The Accused at least, is that the audience is invited to vote
with electronic pads on whether his character is guilty. In
the absence of United Nations observers one wonders on the
reliability of the voting mechanism, but it is fascinating to
note that Dr Sutherland - or is it really Jeffrey? - is being
acquitted with great regularity. So much so that Archer is
considering a script rewrite to even the odds on a guilty
verdict. And that just about epitomises Lord Jeffrey Archer -
he has always written his own script. Despite his numerous
transgressions, even a grudging admiration is deserved of a
man with the breathtaking tenacity to add this chapter.
Encore, Jeffrey - as if you'll
ever need the encouragement.
The Accused, starring
Jeffrey Archer is showing at Brighton's Theatre Royal on Nov 6
to 11.
copyright New Insight 2000
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