R3 & R4 mark Rattigan centenary

[french frank]

The BBC has commissioned four new radio productions for a Rattigan season in June.

Drama on 3: June 5th, 8pm - R3 has commissioned Flare Path, 'which stars Rory Kinnear as the bomber pilot Teddy, Ruth Wilson as his wife Patricia, and Rupert Penry-Jones as her former lover, Peter. Written and first produced in 1942 when Rattigan was serving as a tail gunner, it tells the story of the understated tensions and strained loyalties of life-and-death reality for RAF bombers and those close to them. This new production from Catherine Bailey is directed by Jeremy Herrin of the Royal Court Theatre in London.'

R4's productions are The Browning Version, In Praise of Love and Cause Célèbre, on Saturdays, 2.30pm, on the 11th, 18th and 25th June.

...

[Angle]

Thanks for flagging up these productions, ff.

It is pleasing to find that the BBC will commemorate the work of Terence Rattigan, one of Britain's most successful playwrights and one of the very few to be knighted. We are in for a bit of a feast.

FLARE PATH made the air-waves on 11 December1965 as a Saturday Night Theatre production. Diana Dors played Angela Rattenbury in the 1975 production of Cause Celebre, repeated as a Monday Play in 1976, Rattigan's first play written specially for radio. I wonder if R4X will repeat either of them in commemoration.

I look forward to In Praise of Love as I have neither read not seen it. When was it written ?

[MrGongGong]

I thought you meant the great Jim Rattigan
who must be the best Jazz Hornplayer in the UK
and an all round top musician IMV

http://www.jimrattigan.com/

and He is playing in the Charlie Hayden gig tonight at the Barbican (if you are in London !)

[french frank]

I thought you meant the great Jim Rattigan who must be the best Jazz Hornplayer in the UK and an all round top musician IMV

You must have been surprised to learn that he was 100, then, MrGG

Angle, I found this recent review (no spoilers) of In Praise of Love which it seems opened originally in 1973. R4's production is not the same one.

[salymap]

I remember enjoying 'The Deep Blue Sea' in a London production in the 50s. Can't remember who was in it though.

[Stanley Stewart]

If you mean the 1952 original production at the Duchess Theatre, salymap, it was Peggy Ashcroft as Hester Collyer, Roland Culver as her husband (Sir Wm) and Kenneth More as Hester's partner in Bayswater, Freddy Page. If you saw the production when Peggy Ashcroft went on holiday (1953) she was replaced by Celia Johnson. Vivien Leigh played Hester in the 1956 film version.

[mercia]

slightly off-topic I always found the plot of The Winslow Boy rather far-fetched though apparently it was based on a true case

[MrGongGong]

You must have been surprised to learn that he was 100, then, MrGG

Angle, I found this recent review (no spoilers) of In Praise of Love which it seems opened originally in 1973. R4's production is not the same one.

indeed
a fine achievement as the last time I saw Jim he arrived on his bike with his detachable bell horn in a rucksack which i'm sure he wouldn't have been able to manage if he was that old !

[salymap]

Stanley Stewart, thanks, yes it was the 1952 production with Peggy Ashcroft etc. I went to the Duchess Theatre a lot as a hard-up youngster, as a nurse friend of mine was given free tickets which helped us both to see a lot of plays. I don't know whether it is still done, but theatres often gave tickets to hospitals apparently.

[Mr Pee]

Rattigan enthusiasts might like to take a trip to Chichester over the Summer, where the Festival Theatre are celebrating the centenary with some interesting new productions, including a world premiere based on a previously unperformed Rattigan screenplay about Diaghilev and Nijinsky, and a double bill of The Browning Version paired with South Downs, a new play by David Hare which compliments the former work. There's also a new production of The Deep Blue Sea.

http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_details.asp?pid=485

http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_details.asp?pid=484

http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_details.asp?pid=487

[Stanley Stewart]

Thank you, salymap - and "snap" on the hard-up era of the early 50s. At the time, I did my stint of National Srervuice in the RAF and used every ruse to undertake courier duties to the Air Ministry, in Kingsway; the Spring of 1953 was a busy time as the Coronation wasn't due until June. As a courier, I used to travel to London, overnight, and get my duties out of the way during the morning. This left me free to go to the Nuffield Centre (behind St Martin's in the Field) and queue for tickets (often Stalls/Dress Circle) available for servicemen at matinees or evening performances. I could then use my subsistence allowance of a few shillings for a cubicle at the Union Jack Club (opposite Waterloo Station) and see further performances before my return journey next day. Within a few weeks, I saw Peggy Ashcroft as Hester before she went on holiday and Celia Johnson when she took over. Memories still vivid.

This thread also prompted me to rummage for an off-air video, a 1994 production of "Deep Blue Sea" (BBC 2 - PERFORMANCE series) which had transferred from the Almedia Theatre to the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue: Penelope Wilton memorable as Hester, with Ian Holm as Wm Collyer and a young Colin Firth as Freddy Page. It was beautifully re-directed for TV by Karel Reisz. I've just transferred it to DVD. In turn, I've also retrieved a first rate biography of Rattigan by Geoffrey Wansell (1994) which reminded me that the play was based on Rattigan's love affair with a young man who subsequently committed suicide in 1949; the writer was aware that such a play would not be permitted by the Lord Chamberlain's office.

"Rattigan's work is a sustained assault on English middle-class values: fear of emotional commitment,
terror in the face of passion, apprehension about sex. Few dramatists have written with more understanding
about the human heart than Terence Rattigan." Michael Billington

[Pianorak]

. . . Peggy Ashcroft . . .

Sorry - totally irrelevant : Peggy Ashcroft, obviously deep in thought, stepped into the road and right in front of my car, somewhere in Frognal Lane, Hampstead, late 1960s. I managed to swerve - no harm done. Nowadays my regular drive from Reading to White Waltham takes me past Terence Rattigan's old home in Sonning. I've also got Vivien Leigh's autograph who starred in the film version of Deep Blue Sea. Memories and connections of sorts.

[salymap]

Stanley Stewart and Pianorak Two interesting glimpses of the past. I remember 'Deep Blue Sea' was well cast and wasn't Freddie Page a tennis player, or was that something else with Kenneth More in it?

Not Rattigan but about that time I saw Venus Observed, Ring round the Moon, The Little Hut,Dial M for Murder,
many more.

[David Underdown]

Stanley,

At one point during his RAF service, Rattigan was based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse and contributed some small things to the shows put on by service groups in York. Don't know if he left his signature at Betty's though

Went to the recent London production of Flare Path which was fantastic.

[Stanley Stewart]

Thank you, David. Indeed, the force of coincidence is at work again! My introduction to York was via a posting to RAF Linton on Ouse. After "demob", I settled in this lovely City until I took up residence in London in the late 50s for 35 glorious years. Glad you enjoyed "Flare Path" at the Haymarket Theatre. In 1945, Rattigan adapted the plot and wrote the screenplay for "Way To The Stars" which became a huge success at the time and is often shown on BBC 2. Stars Michael Redgrave, John Mills and Rosamund John - and let's not forget John Pudney's poem, "Do not despair for Johnny head in air, He sleeps as sound as Johnny underground..." often requested on Family Favourites for many years.

salymap - you really are incorrigible, stirring so many memories. Freddy Page was a test pilot in "Deep Blue Sea" and Kenneth More played the extrovert with real bravura - it put him at the top of the list when cast as Douglas Bader in "Reach For The Sky" (1956). The film version of "Deep Blue Sea" made the mistake of opening out the film which is necessarily claustrophobic and Vivien Leigh (of beloved memory) was far too chic for Hester. Watching the performance of Penelope Wilton in the same role, yesterday, it was noticeable that she was almost shabby in appearance which registered that she was not dependent on any financial support from her husband.

And Christopher Fry's "Venus Observed", saly, at the elegant St James's Theatre - off Haymarket. Do you also recall Rattigan's piece de resistance, "Separate Tables", at the same theatre in 1954? Eric Portman, Margaret Leighton, Phyllis Neilson Terry and a quite glittering ensemble of players. And can you hum Richard Addinsell's waltz tune for Peter Brook's magical production of "Ring Round the Moon" at the Globe (now the Gielgud) Theatre?

The tennis player you may have in mind could be the brilliant psychopath played by Robert Walker in Hitchcock's, "Strangers on a Train" (1951) or the murderous tennis champion, Tony Wendice in "Dial M for Murder", which you also mention. I played this role in rep - mid 60s - and almost went mental trying to memorise the narrative variations in the plot which involve the use of a key! Aways full houses for this play, even at matinees.