FIVE STARS

 

The flurry of productions of Sir Terence Rattigan’s work that marked his centenary two years ago certainly confirmed the writer to be one of the giants of the 20th-century stage. Attempts at the time to present him as some sort of forgotten genius were somewhat wide of the mark, however, as revivals of his best-known works had been regularly supplied during the period of his supposed neglect. Oxford Playhouse audiences saw fine productions of The Winslow Boy, perhaps his best-crafted play, in 2002 and 2009, with Edward Fox and Timothy West respectively in the role of the retired banker driven to take on the Establishment, as it wasn’t then called, after the expulsion of his 13-year-old son Ronnie from The Royal Naval College at Osborne for the alleged theft of a five shilling postal order. The play, based on a celebrated real-life story of Edwardian days, was turned into a 1999 film directed by the playwright David Mamet. His Arthur Winslow was another top-flight British actor, Nigel Hawthorne.

Though he performed impressively, as did Fox and West, none was quite so successful in the part as Henry Goodman in Lindsay Posner’s new production at the Old Vic. Arthur’s steely determination to see right done, crippling though this is to his health and finances, is presented with heart-warming clarity, especially in exchanges with his less motivated wife Grace (Deborah Findlay). So is the character’s ready wit, much of which is seen in his dealings with the hopelessly inept parlour maid Violet (Wendy Nottingham) and scapegrace elder son Dickie (Nick Hendrix), whose Oxford student career is sacrificed in the cause of financing the family’s costly legal battle. For sister Catherine (Naomi Frederick), who is labouring in the cause of women’s suffrage, the loss is to her personal life, when the publicity arising from the case prompts her fiancé John Watherstone (Richard Teverson) to walk out on her under pressure from his reactionary family.

This might suggest the possibility of some amorous interest, at last, for her long- time admirer, the dull dog family solicitor Desmond Curry, but this is not to be. A less likely candidate for her affections emerges in the shape of the country’s leading lawyer, the Conservative MP Sir Robert Morton. Outwardly a cold fish, he eventually proves to be more emotionally driven than had been thought.

The Winslow Boy is famously a legal drama without a courtroom scene. The next best thing comes in Morton’s fierce interrogation of young Ronnie, perfectly presented here by Charlie Rowe. The coup de théâtre this delivers at the interval curtain still surprises even those familiar with the play.

 

The Old Vic, London
Until May 25
Tickets: 0844 871 7628 oldvictheatre.com