South Downs and The Browning Version ****

Harold Pinter Theatre, London
****

EXCERPT: "Whereas I felt that the first half was by far the superior one, the acting in an entirely different league (primarily, admittedly, because Chancellor does not feature nearly so often in the first), my elders have begged to differ, arguing that the latter play resonated far more powerfully and impressively with them."



Terence Rattigan’s most celebrated play, The Browning Version, has always been paired with one of the author’s notoriously weaker short plays. In a move away from this dead duck, and to celebrate the centenary of Rattigan’s birth, David Hare has been commissioned to write an accompanying first half. And so enters South Downs, a play which, like Rattigan’s, draws much from the playwright’s personal experience of public school. Neatly paired, Hare’s first half focuses on the experience of the student receptacles of school life, whilst Rattigan’s second half revolves around the teachers. With the credibility of a hugely successful Chichester Festival Theatre run behind them and the artistic intrigue that comes from an authorial collaboration, it also has the compelling pulling powers of Anna Chancellor to draw upon (best known as Duckface in Four Weddings and a Funeral). And, in the main, it does not disappoint, managing to toe the line between artistic integrity and commercial value.

South Downs showcased some very wonderful talent from the younger generation. Alex Lawther gives a brilliant performance as John Blakemore, his precision and elegant poise subtly but definitively distinguishing him from the rabble of other boys without ever overplaying this difference. The other boys were also strong, showing the dynamic of a group well without playing up too much to easy laughs and stereotypes. Nicholas Farrell was spot on in his attempt to be both the boys ‘chum’ whilst clearly being driven by his own personal religiously orthodox views.  Unfortunately, as the very evidently weak link of a very competent cast, Duckface showed her very real limitations here. Although perhaps this indicates shocking shallowness on my part, I found myself mesmerised by her legs and the Julia Roberts-esque uneasy way in which she navigated her high heels. Admittedly the script does not help her hugely – there is not a huge amount to explain why on earth she would confess quite so much to, or create such a strong bond with, a boy she had only just heard about – but I never believed in her performance or the bond she had supposedly got with Blakemore (Lawther). Fortunately, her presence was limited enough that her appearance didn’t do irreparable damage to the rest of the performance, which was of a commendably high quality. With lovely Romanic pillars and simple school desks and chairs, Tom Scutt’s set felt perfectly in accordance with the delicately elegant way in which director Jeremy Herrin negotiated the relationships depicted. A real theatrical treat of a West End first half.

Interestingly, the response I’ve had from the older generation of audience members has been entirely at odds with my own personal instinctive response to the two halves. Whereas I felt that the first half was by far the superior one, the acting in an entirely different league (primarily, admittedly, because Chancellor does not feature nearly so often in the first), my elders have begged to differ, arguing that the latter play resonated far more powerfully and impressively with them. Rattigan’s play is, indeed, the better written, providing far more dramatic potential for a rollercoaster of a ride as we see the Himmler of the classroom reduced to fallible, sensitive humanity when faced with the simple act of kindness from a student. Buffeted around by his imperious headmaster and wife, Andrew Crocker-Harris (Farrell) is seemingly impervious to everything. The moment when his facade briefly slips, and as his wife Millie (Chancellor) ruthlessly dispels his sense of worth, is attributed as one of the most moving in theatrical history. Although I still find it surprising to realise my teachers had real lives outside the classroom, perhaps the reason for the disparity between responses to the performances’ potency can be simply understood by the fact that figures of authority were even less personable forty years ago when my seniors were in the throes of education. Farrell does indeed embody the part of the stickly and dated Latin teacher very well indeed, and while I felt he could have perhaps milked its emotional impact a bit more, his character was clearly quite a dated one and so probably more realistic, and so moving, for others. My main fault though was not with his performance but with his supporting cast’s, who lacked the plausibility of the first half’s younger cast, despite the exacting verisimilitude of the background set’s scenery.

South Downs and The Browning Version played at the Harold Pinter Theatre. To get tickets and find out more information about the theatre, go to the Harold Pinter Theatre website.