Review: Summer 1954, Richmond Theatre

Summer 1954, Richmond Theatre

“I fear it is lost—like so many other things.
Lost for good.”

15 years or so on from the flurry of productions that marked his centenary (an exceptional Amanda Root-led The Deep Blue Sea, Sheridan Smith breaking hearts in Flare Path, the extraordinary cast of After the Dance to name but a few), the work of Terence Rattigan has slipped a little closer to obscurity once again, save The Deep Blue Sea reappearing now and again. Theatre Royal Bath have stayed true to the case though – their Tamsin Greig-starring production transferring to the West End this spring and their Summer 1954 now out on a winter tour.

Directed by James Dacre, Summer 1954 is a pairing of two of Rattigan’s one-act plays. Table Number Seven (from Separate Tables) and The Browning Version (last seen in London alongside David Hare’s companion piece South Downs). Both set in the titular period, each showcase Rattigan’s undisputed talent for capturing the emotional turmoil and repressed yearnings that lay under the carapace of post-war gentility, presaging the social change soon to take over the UK and sweep Rattigan himself out of fashion too. 

Table Number Seven takes place in a Bournemouth boarding-house where the guests are shocked to read a story about one of their number, Nathaniel Parker’s Major Pollock. Not only is he posing as a military man, he’s been arrested for “importuning” men on the esplanade at a time when there was an active witch-hunt against homosexual men. The response is decidedly mixed – Siân Phillips’ strikingly vicious Mrs Railton-Bell leading the charge, her daughter – Alexandra Dowling’s Sybil – a symbol of growing tolerance alongside others like Richenda Carey’s wonderful Miss Meacham.

Real interest comes in discovering that Rattigan had to amend his original plot to have the Major sexually harassing women, such were the legal strictures of depictions of homosexuality onstage. As Mike Britton’s revolving set moves us fluidly through differing groups arguing different viewpoints, there’s something deeply moving here in this microcosm of British society deciding how or if it can deal open-mindedly with change. Parker, Philipps and Carey stand out as the emotional struggles play out among the chat about the weather and the cricket scores. 

The Browning Version sees several of the company pull double duty, though sadly not Phillips or Carey but Parker presents another portrait of particularly English disappointment. He plays schoolmaster Andrew Crocker-Harris, long passed-over for promotion, unhappily married and caught in a moment of acute self-awareness. Lolita Chakrabarti impresses as his embittered wife, Jeremy Neumark Jones too as the colleague with whom she cheats on “the Crock”, Valgeir Sigurðsson’s soundscape adding immeasurably to the lingering melancholy of lives trapped by failure.  

Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes (with interval)
Photo: Manuel Harlan
Summer 1954 is booking at Richmond Theatre until 1st February, then plays Cheltenham Everyman Theatre 3 – 8 February 2025 and Oxford Playhouse 11 – 15 February 2025  

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