Lorna Irvine reviews an 'articulate, thoughtful and rather moving' production.
Sir John Reith: Director General of the BBC, reactionary, straight married man. Hilda Mathieson: work colleague, progressive, harbinger of women's rights, lesbian. Two people locked in an intellectual war; a compelling premise in Tony Cox's new play for PPP.
A 'wireless' broadcast where Vita Sackville-West compares the foundations for a lasting marriage to those of a pot plant is aired, sparking controversy in the ranks. Sackville-West is of course a part of the Bloomsbury set—the literary proponents of open marriage and homosexual/lesbian affairs.
Talk of 'reds' and 'Bolsheviks' let loose in the BBC corridors abounds, with the new liberalism frotting uncomfortably against the old guard- except Reith reveals his past is not as rigidly heterosexual as it first appeared, and talk turns to sharing baths with his army chum 'Charlie with the pretty eyes' and a subsequent love rectangle.
Reith has turned to prying and going through his colleague's mail to trip her up—to her understandable indignation. The battle of wills becomes more than a mere gender war, but one of moral and ethical consequence. A (literal) pot plant getting smashed may not exactly be a subtle touch, but as a focus for Reith's fury and frustration, it's a really nice stage direction.
Neither character ultimately runs rings around the other, and such even-handedness is refreshing to watch. Lesley Hart and Benny Young are effortlessly brilliant as Mathieson and Reith respectively—a dream pairing.
Cox's little play is a delight: articulate, thoughtful and rather moving. Snooping at the BBC? A question of privacy being breached? Pffft! Couldn't possibly happen today...
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