5 STARS, March 20-24. A play about the British weather gripping? Absolutely riveting in fact! Amanda Hodges discovers that the meteorological background to the D-Day Landings proves fertile material for an engrossing drama
As taut as any thriller, full of fascinating period detail and managing to be simultaneously informative, witty and often intensely poignant, David Haig’s superb play about the weather influencing the planned D-Day landings of June 1944 is, quite simply, sensationally good and interesting for anyone, not just an older generation for whom the events dramatised may have personal resonance. It illustrates perfectly just how mercurial the workings of history can be.
Who would ever have imagined that a play which revolves around the British weather could prove so innately compelling? Yet it is just this, a play which grabs attention from the beginning when its gruff central protagonist, Group Captain James Stagg (David Haig) first appears, ruffling innumerable feathers with his apparently dour behaviour and which never releases its grip until its closing moments.
Stagg has been summoned to the HQ of General Dwight Eisenhower (Malcolm Sinclair) to provide a meteorological map of the proposed D-Day invasion intended for Monday 5 June. Britain is in the midst of a long period of beautiful, balmy weather and American forecaster Colonel Irving Crick (Phillip Cairns) sees no reason why Monday’s forecast should be any different. But Stagg vehemently disagrees. His long knowledge of volatile British weather which can change in a matter of hours; “ a climate of surprises ” as he wryly dubs it, allowing him to perceive that a storm is actually heading over the Channel on the very day planned.
Robert Day
A large weather map centre-stage, the action proceeds at staccato intervals, all dominated by the weather bulletins which will determine the fate of thousands of Allied troops, something which inevitably heightens the tension inside the office to phenomenal levels as the pressure of getting the right forecast takes its toll on everyone present. Eisenhower is on tenterhooks, knowing the fate of thousands of men rest in his hands, his personal - and devoted - secretary Kay Summersby (Laura Rogers) calmly trying to keep everything running smoothly whilst Stagg, a weatherman who understands the importance of the Jet Stream's influence, is all too keenly aware that failure is not an option.
After the success of My Boy Jack Haig is proving himself a skilful and thoughtful playwright and here he gets the atmosphere of wartime conflict pitch-perfect, alternating the unfolding drama of the weather forecast with Stagg's own personal concerns, domestic and professional life jostling for attention.
Add to this intense mix some light relief in the shape of the image of a somewhat bumptious Winston Churchill being unceremoniously sidelined on D-Day and the importance of the weather during the burning of Atlanta scene in Gone With The Wind and you have a richly entertaining play given just the right momentum by an exemplary cast.
Everyone is terrific but it's the central trio of Stagg, Eisenhower and Summersby that anchor the play. Haig is as good as ever, his presence invariably an indication of quality and Rogers is wonderful too as the one person for whom the war's approaching end is a mixed blessing. And as Dwight Eisenhower Sinclair is outstanding, both jocular and commanding, a man of action painfully aware of the consequences of his actions.
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