Review: In Praise of Love at the Orange Tree

"The Orange Tree has an impressive pedigree in presenting Rattigan revivals and this is no exception, Amelia Sears’ production an absolute delight."

BOOK NOW

OUR VERDICT

×

Expand

Ellie Kurttz

It’s hard to imagine today when Terence Rattigan’s work is held in such high esteem but, until the 1970s when his reputation was happily revived, as a playwright Rattigan endured a protracted period of critical neglect throughout the Sixties, his well-made plays jettisoned for the ‘Angry Young Men’ dramas a world away from the deceptively comfortable milieu he portrayed.

But there was always present what academic Dan Rebellato calls “searing emotional power” within his work, just artfully disguised.

There’s a wonderful irony now in the fact that this delicately nuanced Rattigan play - which revolves around emotional evasion - is being staged at such an intimate theatre as the Orange Tree where little can be hidden.

The Orange Tree has an impressive pedigree in presenting Rattigan revivals and this is no exception, Amelia Sears’ production an absolute delight.

×

Expand

Ellie Kurttz

This was the play which originally began the significant reappraisal of Rattigan’s oeuvre, and one can see why; its portrait of a long marriage in which strong feeling is disguised and diluted is an absorbing one in which the audience’s sympathies shift from moment to moment.

Apparently inspired by the marriage of friends Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, Rattigan himself once said, “A playwright must be his own audience. A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute.” And he certainly never does here. 

Set in the disjointed world of England in the early 1970s, Estonian Lydia, a vivacious former wartime refugee, is married to distinguished writer Sebastian.

He appears all sharp barbs and dyspeptic pique in the play’s first half, but appearances are- partially- deceptive, and an intricate, beautifully paced drama unfurls, full of emotional perception and sagacity.  

×

Expand

Ellie Kurttz

The cast is top-notch, too. Dominic Rowan hits just the right notes as the overtly caustic Sebastian, Claire Price is terrific as the more demonstrative Lydia and Daniel Abelson gives the right support as Mark, the couple’s conflicted friend.

And as Joey, the Cruttwell’s eloquent son, frequently embroiled in verbal jousts with his father, plus a very engaging chess match, Joe Edgar is really superb; he’s totally persuasive from his first moments on stage, capturing both the vulnerability and passionate conviction of his character.

In its understanding of the complexities of human relationships- and its lack of judgement- Dan Rebellato rightly perceives that this Rattigan gem offers, at its wise heart, “ a deeply compassionate play in praise of love in all its forms,” and as such is richly compelling.