A review of Still Life at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Anyone of a certain age, or aficionados of vintage movies, will know of Brief Encounter, the 1945 film directed by David Lean and written by Noël Coward that was voted the second-best British Film ever in a recent British Film Institute poll (narrowly beaten to the top spot by another 1940s classic, Carol Reed’s The Third Man).
It is much less widely known that Coward created the screenplay by expanding upon his brief play entitled Still Life, that was part of a triptych, performed in different permutations, as “Tonight at 8.30”, which premiered at the Phoenix Theatre in January 1936. As an aside, a welcome touch was to have the production details for this revival printed on the reverse of a facsimile of the original programme, complete with the signatures of Coward, Gertrude Lawrence and Diana Napier.
The action in Still Life takes place entirely in the cafeteria by the platforms of Milford Junction Railway Station and these scenes punctuated the film, but none of the exterior scenes in the film are in the play. So, the narrative is focussed completely on the brief meetings between the two protagonists of the secret and unconsummated love affair between Dr Alec Harvey and Laura Jesson and only the characters known from Brief Encounter that appear in the café are in Still Life.
The unique selling point of this production is that the action takes place in the Theatre’s Grand Salon, designed to represent the café with the audience enjoying a splendid afternoon tea, as if fellow passengers waiting for the express train to Leeds or Bradford, albeit enjoying rather more sumptuous fare than the stewed breakfast brew and bath buns that would have been a more realistic repast for 1936!
The idea was great, but it did mean that it was not always possible to see or hear the performers when situated on the other side of the central “bar” area, which was at times irritating. I also found some of the costuming, especially the footwear, to be out-of-kilter with the clothing of the mid-1930s. Also, while I understand the need to cut costs in such productions, some of the doubling up in the cast just didn’t work, so having the same actor (Elizabeth Elgin) performing the role of the café owner, Myrtle Bagot (an excellent performance by the way) and (uncredited) the nosy neighbour, Dolly Messiter, who thoughtlessly but inadvertently interrupts the lovers’ final farewell, was confusing, especially since this role transition meant that Albert, the railway porter (one of a couple of roles played by Anthony Jardine) had to incongruously serve the tea in place of Myrtle. Another instance was that Seren Sandham-Davie, portraying Myrtle’s assistant, Beryl, also played the part of the soldier (one, not two as in the film) who causes a disturbance in the café.
Apart from the fascinating concept of the audience as customers seated in the café/railway waiting room, the best of this performance was the excellence of Rachel Pickup in the central role of Laura. It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Celia Johnson (of Brief Encounter) in this role but Pickup’s diverse range of emotions was outstanding and made me believe in her uncertain and vulnerable susceptibility to the overtures of the married doctor who comes into her life by removing grit from her eye. The consummation of their affair is prevented when his scheme to get them to use a friend’s apartment is thwarted by the latter’s unexpected arrival. Unlike the film, we didn’t see this because it happened outside of the café, and all Still Life represents is the aftermath of this embarrassment when they both retire to the café again. Incidentally, unlike the film, the play gave me the uncomfortable feeling that Alec’s relentless pursuit of the comfortably married Laura would be regarded as borderline stalking in modern times!
For all of Pickup’s excellence as Laura, I found Alasdair Craig to be rather dour in his portrayal of Alec and hence the chemistry between the actors was not the representation of quickly blooming passionate obsession that I would have expected.
The action was pieced together with live music, played by the multi-talented Sandham-Davies who was equally adept on the keyboard as she was with the trumpet and in singing.
I must have seen Brief Encounter more than a dozen times (both at the cinema and on smaller screens) and, despite my reservations, I thoroughly enjoyed both this performance and the excellent afternoon tea. At £75 a head it is very keenly priced and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon wallowing in Laura Jesson’s age-old dilemma of whether to plunge into an affair.
Still Life is at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane until 12 September. There are two shows a day but very few bookings remain. Booking details here
