How Berlusconi set the stage for populist politicians everywhere
As a new musical about him opens in London, the former Italian Prime Minister has gone from ridicule to looking like a trailblazer for populists the world over.
Have you ever wondered what rhymes with ‘Bunga Bunga’?
As readers of this newsletter there is a chance you actually might have wondered that very thing, so let me put an end to the suspense. It’s:
‘The night’s not getting any younger’
Which is:
A) Genius
B) Only effective if you pronounce both ‘Bunga’ and ‘younger’ with a (southern) British-English accent
And that neatly sums up ‘Berlusconi - A New Musical’ which has just opened at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant in London.
Just like the Bunga lyric above from one of its songs, the show is aimed specifically at a British audience, is written by British authors and performed by a British cast.
It focuses on Berlusconi’s rise to power and the sexual/corruption scandals that have engulfed him for years including, of course, the Bunga Bunga ‘elegant dinners’ - more commonly known as orgies to you and I. As anyone with the slightest knowledge of the perma-tanned former Prime Minister is aware, there is no shortage of theatrical material. However the musical’s Director points out that you don’t have to be interested in Italian politics to enjoy - and learn from - the show:
“This is not a musical about Silvio Berlusconi per se.
It’s a musical about power. How it is gained, how it corrupts, how it is abused. And perhaps most importantly it is a warning.”
James Grieve, Director ‘Berlusconi - A new musical’
A few words about the show itself, before looking at its significance. It’s good fun, catchy songs, the theatre is small but that gives it a sense of intimacy and the cast work well around a tall and narrow stage. Good use of graphics and other visual tools means you’ll be able to follow the narrative even if you don’t remember (or never knew) all the legal intricacies. Television has been a key part of Berlusconi’s rise and fall , so I liked how the show used elements of Live TV reports within it. My only gripe? The man who plays Berlusconi is too handsome. Not sure many women would need the promise of a job in TV or politics to compromise themselves. But maybe that’s just me and one of the many reasons why I’m no theatre critic.
I find it strange to see the story of the Berlusconi trials on a London stage more than a decade after the event. I remember the ridicule I endured as an Italian in the UK during the years of the Berlusconi scandal. Now, the mainly British audience giving the cast a standing ovation aren’t laughing at Italy any more. The hairstyles may differ but it’s pretty clear that Berlusconi turned out to be a trailblazer for populists around the world. The UK is no exception.
Much has been written about the ‘Italianisation of British Politics’. I have done so previously here (Bunga vs Boris) and here (Is it Britaly or Brexit Britain?) But while we’ve talked about the similarites, there is one key difference in Berlusconi’s rise to power which could not happen in the UK and many other democracies. And that difference is Silvio Berlusconi’s ownership of a media empire.
Berlusconi owns and controls the main independent TV stations, the group called Mediaset, and has done so for decades. In British TV terms, it would be like owning ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and having the journalists who work for those networks on side.
This is an Italian anomaly. In most Western democracies a leading politician would not be allowed to control such huge parts of the media due to the obvious conflict of interests.
This will always set Berlusconi aside from other populist leaders around the world. Sure, Donald Trump relied on the support of Fox News to amplify his message, but it’s different to owning the network outright. As the recent lawsuit involving Fox News has amply shown.
But the lesson is still clear. Manipulate the message and you can manipulate the electorate. Berlusconi entered politics in the 1990s, and the media landscape everywhere has changed enormously since then. The fact he recently felt the need to create a TikTok account speaks volumes about how terrestrial TV has lost ground to social media. But all politicians, especially so-called populists, seek to control the message. It may be harder now to concentrate power and communication in the hands of one man, like Berlusconi managed to do. But in the current fragmented global information offering, the many ways in which the truth can be twisted are more subtle and therefore potentially more insidious.
As one of the final songs in the musical warns: ‘Be careful who you vote for.’
In order to achieve commercial success, the musical inevitably offers a partial vision of what Berlusconi represented, favoring the sensationalistic aspect and postponing the positive effects to Italian families, from an economic point of view too, of his entrepreneurial success. Were it up to his detractors, Italians would still be at TV primitive level for years.
Personally I have never been ashamed of Berlusconi. Human weaknesses will be judged by God, certainly tons of mud have been thrown on Berlusconi, as dishonest behavior were others.
I haven't seen the show but I'm thinking that there will be many who go in the smugness that thank God they don't have such a leader. But (and I'm no fan of Berlusconi) he had Bunga Bunga while they destroyed Libya which Berlusconi didn't want. Without such recklessness we wouldn't have the refugee crisis that we have in the Mediterranean. Also Syria was not rightly so black and white for him saying all Syria's enemies are not our friends. The real truth about Syria is still to come out. Also had he been prime minister perhaps the Ukrainian situation may never have got to where it is today. So while we laugh at Bunga Bunga, his hair transplant, gaffs and pretty girlfriend's his foreign policy and caring about Italy was a damm sight better than many reverted politicians who do the bidding of foreign interests. So for me the musical no matter how it is means we never took him seriously.