Flare Path (The Rattigan Collection) (NHB Modern Plays)

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The character, however, who always makes the most impact, is the barmaid (Siobhan O’Kelly) who married a Polish count and is now a countess. It is role which has been successfully played by Liz Fraser and more recently by Sheridan Smith in Trevor Nunn’s major revival at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in 2011. It is a delight to see the return to the Southend stage of Elena Clements. after an absence of some years. She brings a quality of sweet intensity to all her roles, and that quality is especially apparent in her role here, as Doris, known to all as The Countess. Seemingly a bit of an airhead in the early portion of the play, she conjures up a monumental display of courage and dignity when confronted with personal tragedy. Another masterly performance from Elena Clements, which enshrines both the grief and the gutsiness of so many thousands of wartime widows. Mark Dexter in the role of Count Johnny might just get a few nominations for best supporting actor, despite an accent that could have been purloined from 'Allo 'Allo, thanks to a late speech that might easily have half the audience blubbing every night. The Lysander was used extensively to ferry secret agents into and out of Nazi-held territory by night, as well as retrieve allied airmen who had been shot down and were on the run.

The revival runs at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 4 March 2011 and casting also includes Joe Armstrong as Dusty, Sarah Crowden as Mrs Oakes and Clive Woods as Swanson. It was in the service of the Special Operations Executive (SoE) that the Lysander finally found its ‘raison d’etre’. Flare Path, the first play of Sir Trevor Nunn's tenure at the Haymarket Theatre, will rouse its audience as well as reminding them of the bravery of a group of pilots who kept our grandparents safe. As such, the theatre's 900 seats are likely to be filled every night of the run. The acting successfully manages both to convey the period and speak to modern audiences. While the characters are somewhat stereotyped, the cast combines well to draw in and hold our attention, especially in the fraught final scenes. a b Billington, Michael, " Flare Path – review", The Guardian, 14 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-14.And to think the show's publicity revolved around its star name, Sienna Miller, about whom it is also easy to be snooty. Pretty young things made famous by their film-star former boyfriends make big targets, remember. So it is remarkable, again, that the critics ( this time) held their fire. "She brings to her role just the right mixture of glacial poise and agonised tension," says Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard. And, in the Independent, Paul Taylor agrees: "Her performance as the conflicted actress-heroine," he says, "is genuinely heart-tugging in the subtle way it communicates this young woman's struggle between patriotic duty and extra-marital desire."

It is the second play set during the Second World War that Much Hadham Drama Group has put on in the space of 18 months following its well-received production of Goodnight Mister Tom in May 2022. During 1940 the Canadians sent all of their available Hawker Hurricanes abroad to fight in the Battle of Britain so some of their Lysanders were briefly pressed into service as home defence fighters.The hotel's occupants cover almost every strata of society. The hotel is run by Mrs Oakes (Sarah Crowden) who represents business. Youth and, to some extent, the working classes and those unable to be in active service in the armed forces, are represented by Percy, the waiter. Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham and Sergeant Miller represent members of the flight crew, along with Polish officer, Flying Officer Count Skriczevinsky, who also represents other nations engaged in the war effort. The flight crew are intending spending the weekend with their wives - two of them are already in residence, and one arrives during the action. SSC Director, Malcolm Toll, once asked me to learn to juggle for his production of King Lear. I was hopeless, and after he saw my attempt it was cut. Whilst being a professional actor the majority of the auditions I got was based on me being able to play the piano so we’ll go with that one instead! caption id="attachment_9181" align="alignright" width="240"] Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket[/caption] In 2011, Trevor Nunn directed a West End revival of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket as part of the playwright Terence Rattigan's centenary year celebrations. It marked Nunn's debut as Artistic Director of the theatre. The play opened on 4 March 2011. It recouped after six weeks and was extended an extra week due to popular demand, closing 11 June 2011. [21] And so to the cast. I'd like to start with Megan Goodger, Southend Shakespeare Company aristocracy by birth, but here. to the best of my knowledge, making her first impactful stage appearance. How, but how, did such a youthful actress make the transformation into Patricia Warren, the very essence of stiff upper lip, old school Britain, all redoubtable stoicism above and volcanic emotion below? Did she watch endless screenings of Brief Encounter, by any chance? Whatever the explanation, this is an exceptional performance, notably in terms of pace and build-up.

It was also essential of course not to fall for a trap set by the Germans. Pilots were told to avoid landing if the identification signal was not correct, there was an irregularity in the flare path or if the indicated field was not the one they expected. That said, the trio of airmen played by Philip Franks (Squadron Leader Swanson), Alastair Whatley (Teddy Graham), Simon Darwen (Dusty Miller) were terrific and gave their roles the believability that Rattigan demands as did Olivia Hallinan as Teddy’s conflicted wife Patricia Warren.

Not only did Miller take the fight to the paparazzi, she turned the tables. She grins. "I was secretly filming [them] on cameras that looked like lighters, all covert and exciting. It was funny, gathering evidence." The play is set in a hotel in Lincolnshire, situated close to an RAF airfield. From here, Wellington bombers set off on perilous nightly runs over Germany. Some are shot up by roaming 'bandits', even before they can leave the airfield. The flare path of the title, visible from the hotel's picture-window, is the double-line of lights illuminating the take-off and landing strip, It is both a source of refuge and a place of peril. Airmen's wives, staying in the hotel, can only watch and listen, pray and hope. The action of the play is laced with off-stage explosions and news of casualties. In its own way, this place is a frontline of World War Two. It would have been very hard for audiences not to be moved. Terence Rattigan was an air-gunner in the RAF during World War 2 and Flare Path is based on his experiences at Biggin Hill. This love triangle is contrasted with the genuinely strong marriage between barmaid Doris, and the aristocratic Polish pilot officer Count Skriczcvinsky. But this bond seems doomed in a different way, since his life expectations are dwindling by the hour.

Superb production as a three-handkerchief weepie that somehow manages to be both profoundly moving and wonderfully funny." Has your theatre career ever been useful in your day job, and/or have you ever drawn on your day job for any of your stage roles? Spencer, Charles, " Flare Path, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, review", The Telegraph, 14 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-14.The knowledge that Rattigan’s own lover had just left him before Flare Path opened gives the triangle an added interest. Two squadrons (Nos. 138and 161)were formed to support covert SoE operations in Europe during World War 2, flying a mixture of aircraft that included Hudsons, Halifaxes and Whitleys as well as Lysanders. The larger aircraft were used for parachute drops of agents or supplies but the Lysander, with its excellent short take off and landing capabilities, was ideal for situations where a touch down in enemy-held territory was required. The play was directed by Anthony Asquith with whom Rattigan had worked on the propaganda film The Day Will Dawn with whom he would work again in 1945 in The Way to the Stars, the definitive British air war film starring John Mills and Michael Redgrave and an exemplary example of Rattigan’s famous understatement. The action is set in the residents’ lounge of a hotel close to a RAF bomber base in Lincolnshire from which the nightly raids over Germany take place. Sheridan Smith to return to West End Legally Blonde's Sheridan Smith and Rome's James Purefoy will join Sienna Miller in Terence Rattigan’s Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this March.