THE DEEP BLUE SEA    VAUDEVILLE THEATRE

Terence Rattigan’s 1952 classic gets a welcome revival by Edward Hall. Rattigan uses his own experiences when one of his gay lovers committed suicide and here in the shocking opening Hester (Greta Scacchi) lies unconscious in her sitting room in a rundown bed sit in Ladbroke Grove with the gas turned on. But her neighbours smell the gas and come to her rescue. She previously abandoned her judge husband (Simon Williams) for a younger man, the World War II pilot Freddie (Dugal Bruce-Lockhart). Freddie was a war hero but is now more interested in alcohol - “last 10 months he has taken to drink” - than his attractive but older wife. When Hester is reluctantly brought back to life she confesses: “As they say in novels – I knew no more”. Rattigan’s powerful play is still as relevant today as when it was first produced dealing with taboo issues like suicide and a woman’s infidelity and lust for a younger man. Scacchi seems to be well cast as the elegant Hester who brings a lot of dignity to her role. However, her performance is verging more on the melodramatic rather than the realistic. Her delivery stays more on one note and her breakdown feels more technical rather than conveying true suffering. Bruce-Lockhart looks good as the ace flyer but lacks the sexuality and sensuality to make us believe that a married woman would leave her husband for him. He is more successful when he is indifferent to his wife and comes more to his element with lines like “How I hate being tangled into other people’s emotions. All my life I avoided that”. Williams nearly steals the show as the sardonic judge who surprisingly doesn’t hold any grudges against his wife. Hall’s production encourages a mixture of acting styles but looks stunning on Francis O’Connor’s striking set.

(Plays until the 19th of July. Box office 0870 040 0046)