Tim Hughes is captivated by Edward Fox’s portrayal of John Betjeman in Sand in the Sandwiches at Oxford Playhouse

"Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Furnish’d and burnish’d by Aldershot sun, What strenuous singles we played after tea, We in the tournament – you against me!”

The opening lines to John Betjeman’s A Subaltern’s Love-song - the best-known poem by our favourite post-war poet - are a good place to begin Sand in the Sandwiches - a celebration of the great man himself.

These rhythmically skipping lines are delivered in silken tones by another national treasure – one of the absolute greats of British theatre and film, Edward Fox. Who better?

True, Fox, with his elegant frame and sleek features, bears little physical resemblance to the late Poet Laureate, but is sufficiently acquainted with Betjeman’s world – that vanishing land of impeccable manners, cycle rides to churches, steam trains, evensong and high tea – that he is the perfect conduit for this sublime journey through his life.

Fox puts in a tireless, fluid performance in this one-man show, which captivates despite, or perhaps because of, an almost complete lack of distraction – with no other voice to divert our gaze, and little in the way of scenery or props, save a cane chair, table and a bottle of Mâcon-Villages.

So captivating is Fox’s pin-drop delivery, so nuanced his subtle mannerisms – the odd sigh, upwards glance or shrug of the shoulders – and so engaging Hugh Whitmore’s sparkling script, that one quickly forgets one is effectively listening to a monologue.

We find Betjeman approaching his 50th birthday looking back on his life so far through “a magnifying glass of self-pity”.

His childhood - exploring his sense of separation and precocious early awareness of his worth as a poet - his family holidays, flings and crushes, his time at Oxford, and his work as a prolific journalist (reviewing films for the Evening Standard among other work), make for fascinating listening – particularly, for this Oxford Playhouse audience, his tales (both bittersweet and downright hilarious) of our city’s eccentricities and colourful characters - such as his friend Evelyn Waugh.

We are also introduced to his teddybear - the threadbare Archibald Ormsby-Gore (later immortalised by Waugh as the inspiration for Sebastian Flyte's bear Aloysius in Brideshead Revisited).

Fox's genius is in delivering this broad sweep of 'life lived' in such a confessional and intimate manner that we, as individuals, feel we could actually be sat beside him in that sun-dappled garden, privy to his thoughts.

There are moments of great humour and sadness, regret and missed opportunity as well as self-satisfied delight and cheeky, twinkle-eyed playfulness. Pure Betjeman, then.

This wonderful production is a delight for fans – either of the great poet or of this legendary stage actor. Do see.

Tim Hughes 5/5

* Sand in the Sandwiches continues at the Oxford Playhouse until Saturday. Go to oxfordplayhouse.com