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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Flare Path
Verdict: Compelling wartime romantic tear-jerker
6-8;16-19;27-29 Oct. 6-8 Nov 03. Booking Information 020 7287 2875.
Movie legend Peter Kyle's over from America to run away with hot flame Patricia Graham now married to a dashing RAF bomber pilot. It's wartime Britain 1941. Will Patricia chose passion or duty?
The answer's not in much doubt from the beginning, because the kind of spunk this remarkably-acted play's about is of the
old-fashioned variety. There's undoubtedly a lot of sex, but it's all happening off-stage and probably marital. After all, Terence Rattigan was writing for Aunt Edna.
Terence Rattigan invented Aunt Edna as his personal writing target - the voice of the 'great audience' He saw her as a 'nice, respectable, middle-class,
middle-aged, maiden lady, with time on her hands and money to help her pass it, who resides in a West Kensington hotel'. Born
in 1911, dead in 1977, Terence Rattigan lived to see epic success followed by crushing failure. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College Oxford, his plays ceased to be fashionable after John Osborne invented the kitchen sink in 1956 with Look Back In Anger. Shortly afterwards,
Harold Pinter discovered Sidcup, and chippy social realism. But who's laughing now?
In a new century, Osborne seems long out of fashion (blame the invention of
fitted kitchens). Pinter's revivals flag tediously, perhaps because John Prescott abolished the working class ('We're all middle-class now'). Whereas Terence Rattigan's writing of Flare Path sparkles brightly, the action's taut, the acting's thrilling and the story's bang up to date. In the year of the illegal invasion of Iraq and its consequent war dead, it's
fresh as a field of poppies.
Rebecca Warlow centres the play as the morally-torn Patricia Graham. With subtlety, she conveys the slips and recoveries of the character's conscience. She brings a warmth, poignancy and vitality to Mrs Graham that plucks her out of wartime Britain and into the present day. The script demands - for this part as a successful London stage actress though possibly dutiful wartime wife - enchanting beauty, charisma, lots of sultry raunch. And Rebecca Warlow delivers.
Lorraine Arnold bubbles as Northern lass now Countess Skriczevinsky, courtesy of marriage to a brave Polish airman. The Countess is required to meet many challenges in the short duration of the play, and Lorraine Arnold invests her with courage, dignity, understanding, and a celebratory joie de vivre.
What woman in her right mind wouldn't leave her husband, war hero or not, for the fabulously sexy Simon Boughey. As film star Peter Kyle, he provides the
male glamour to the story, admired and slightly idolised by all within its structure. He invests the part with a profound insight. Terence Rattigan's a bit cruel to actors with this part, as if they conformed to the popular stereotype of being air-headed, impulsive and vacuous. With a thorough understanding of the character's reversals, Simon Boughey delivers a Peter Kyle that's much more, and a man of reflective subtlety.
The wartime RAF was boosted immeasurably by the courage of Polish pilots. Driven out of their own country, it would have been easy for them to flee to America. Instead they chose to fight Germany from Britain. Rattigan's character Count Skriczevinsky exemplifies these remarkable men, played by the delightfully gifted David Hedges. He presents the difficulty of language facing Polish combatants in a dignified, often humourous way, and evokes the gentleness of the character.
Dean Holley presents bar-boy Percy as a highly enjoyable character, with lots
of impish youth, and curiosity about the progress of the war. His portrayal is perceptive, and he delivers a Percy who's more understanding and compassionate than one initially suspects.
Hazel Kayes is a magnificenly severe Mrs Oakes, proprietor. The action
takes place in the lounge bar of her hotel. Her - perhaps mock - primness and iron rule are suggested in a performance which allows the innate compassion and charm of the character to twinkle through.
Flight Lieutenant Graham was the first American stage role for Sir Alec Guiness, for which Rattigan cajoled and obtained temporary leave of absence for him from naval service. It was later also Leonard Rossiter's first part. Now Allan Rampton dons the uniform, and roars off into the night gripping his joystick. The joy and charisma of this humble man are evoked in a performance that's a breathtaking tour de force of excellence. Allan Rampton picks up the baton of the famous actors who've preceded him and runs with it. Heartwarming, moving (impossible to hold back the tears at his poignancy). What a magnificent performance.
One of the most subtle parts of Terence Rattigan's script is the easy and equal rapport between the social classes. At a time when society concentrated most on its differences, Rattigan saw the humanity of each person, and its universality - most probably what keeps him so up to date.
Avoiding the easy route adopted by many of his fellow intellectuals, Rattigan didn't run to America when war broke out. He enlisted as an air gunner, the position most vulnerable to attack within a bomber's crew. This is also the job of
Sergeant Miller. Kelvin Marcus Rashbrook plays him with a sharp understanding of the courage
that lies behind his apparently ordinary conversation and manner. A former London Transport conductor, Sergeant Miller's seen the necessity of fighting, and got on with it. Kelvin Marcus Rashbrook's
rendering of Miller doesn't present him as a man who thinks himself a hero. Instead, he's an ordinary man gifted with steadfastness and trust.
Kate Underwood delivers a sublime Mrs Miller. Married to the rear-gunner sergeant, she's cut from the same tree. Ostensibly a stern woman of routine, she's a lively spirit, and her love is no less profound for its apparent suppression under a veneer of the ordinary. What a collection of contradictions for an actor to bring out, and this is Kate Underwood's stunning achievement. Her Mrs Miller's a gem of the story. Moving, too, in her constancy and fearlessness. There's a lot
of intentional comedy in the writing of the part, and Kate Underwood delivers it, deadpan.
Andrew Whitlaw plays Squadron Leader 'Gloria' Swanson. As commanding officer, the character's job is to count the planes in, and rather fewer back, while acting as mother hen, father and friend to each pilot and member of the aircrew. Andrew Whitlaw presents a Squadron Leader Swanson of grace and charm, the diffidence of the character's manner concealing a gentle and dignified compassion. There's humour in the part, and a compelling affection for the character's fellow combatants, which Andrew Whitlaw delightfully evokes.
Flare Path (the runway lights showing aircraft where to take off and land) follows the night of a raid on Germany, as seen from a hotel near a Bomber Command airbase. Theatrically, it's set in the hotel, but thanks to the magnificent sound score from Aura,
and its complementing by inspired lighting (designer Phil S Hunter) the set seems to include the countryside around, as we share with the characters their anxious
interpretations of the sound of departing and returning aircraft. The set's a masterpiece (designers Charles Cusick Smith, Phil R Daniels, construction Sets In The City, Bristol), with
every detail authentic and seeming to spring from its exact year. Make-Up (designed by Universino Sousa,
make-up assistant Sarah Rickard, and costumes (wardrobe supervisor Louise Robertson, costume makers - Jane Thomas-Colquhoun, Judy Ward, Jackie Holt, Alison Scott, Liz McCafferty, Janet Christmas), bring the play strikingly and convincingly to life. Inspired direction is by David
Harris who creates in this staging a live flame of contemporary theatre.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Lorraine Arnold - (Countess Skriczevinsky). Simon Boughey - (Peter Kyle). David Hedges - (Count Skriczevinsky). Dean Holley - (Percy). Hazel Kayes - (Mrs Oakes). Allan Rampton - (Flight Lieutentant Graham). Kelvin Marcus Rashbrook - (Sergeant Miller). Kate Underwood - (Mrs Miller). Rebecca Warlow - (Patricia Graham). Andrew Whitlaw - (Squadron Leader 'Gloria' Swanson).
Company Credits: David Harris - Director. Charles Cusick Smith. Phil R Daniels - Designers. Phil S Hunter - Lighting Designer. Jim Mansel, Peter Adshead - Stage Managers. Aura - Sound Designer. Terence Rattigan - Writer.
The Actors Company Credits: (programme order): Patrons - Sheridan Morley, Joseph Millson. Artistic Director / Producer - David Harris. Administrator - Universino Sousa. Head of Voice - Margaret Braund. Movement - Luisa D'Ambrosio. Poster, Flyer & Programme Design - Stephane Harrison. For This Season: Production Manager - Sylvia Carter. Set Construction - Sets In The City, Bristol. Wardrobe Supervisor - Louise Robertson. Costume Makers - Jane Thomas-Colquhoun, Judy Ward, Jackie Holt, Alison Scott, Liz McCafferty, Janet Christmas. Hair & Make-Up Design -
Universino Sousa. Make-Up Assistants - Sarah Rickard (Flare Path), Joanne Bricknell (The Double Deceit), Michelle Monaghan (The Pillars Of Society). Publicity - Paul Sullivan. Production
Photographer - Marilyn Kingwill. Thanks To: Cirrus UK, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Theatre Royal, Stratford East (for additional props and wardrobe).
Jermyn Street Theatre Credits: Howard Jameson. Artistic Director - Penny Horner. Box Office (tonight) - Michael Darton. Patron - HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
Broadway Opening Night Cast Credits 1942: (Source Internet Broadway Database): Henry Miller's Theatre, New York, America. Opened 23 Dec 1942. Closed 2 Jan 1943. Total Performances - 14. Producer - Gilbert Miller. Writer - Terence Rattigan. Director - Margaret Webster. Designer - Raymond Sovey. Cast: Reynolds Denniston, Alec Guiness, Jackie Kelk, Nancy Kelly, Cynthia Latham, Arthur Margetson, Dorothy Patten, Helena Pickard, Gerald Savory.
END
John Park
reviewed Tuesday 28 October 03 / Jermyn Street Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
