Sheridan Smith illuminates FLARE PATH

THEATRE: Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London

DATE: 19-03-2011

TIME: 14:30

WITH: Sheridan Smith, James Purefoy, Sienna Miller, Harry Hadden-Paton, Joe Armstrong, Sarah Crowden, Mark Dexter, Emma Handy, Matthew Tennyson, Clive Wood a.o.

DIRECTOR: Sir Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn’s revival of Terrence Rattigan’s rarely produced “Flare Path” (1942) is a slow burner. But when it hits its stride in the third act the results are astounding. Sienna Miller might be the star attraction on paper, but it is Sheridan Smith who illuminates this WWII story with her singular talent.

Until recently Rattigan seemed but a relic. This year though, his centennial, his plays are performed all over England and audiences are (re)discovering his gifts as a dramatist. This reappraisal started last year when the National Theatre had a fat hit with After The Dance, which recently triumphed at the Olivier Awards. Rattigan’s oeuvre also includes The Deep Blue Sea, Cause Celebre (about to open at the Old Vic) and Separate Tables. For the opening of his season at the Haymarket Nunn chose to direct Flare Path and he has assembled an incredible cast to bring all the repressed emotions of the play to life with great precision and nuance.

The play is set during a single weekend in a Lincolnshire hotel lounge, which is situated near an RAF base. It mostly lodges bomber crews and their anxious wives. When (fading) movie star Peter Kyle (James Purefoy) enters this environment it understandably causes quite a stir. At first it seems as if Kyle just happens to be passing through, but it soon becomes evident that he is out to win back former lover Patricia Warren (Sienna Miller). ‘Pat’ is a former actress married to jovial RAF pilot Teddy (Harry Hadden-Paton) and seems eager to flee the nest. A major subplot features a former bar maid (Sheridan Smith), who is married and totally devoted to a Polish count (Mark Dexter) who is flying with the RAF. The 'countess' is insecure about her husband’s feelings and fears he will abandon her after the war. If he is not killed first, that is.

 James Purefoy (Rome) & Sienna Miller (Factory Girl)

The production takes off energitically as all the various characters in the hotel are introduced. Nunn cleverly makes the underlying threat of death clearly palpable throughout with a great sound design (Paul Groothuis), characters closing curtains for blackouts, or silently and anxiously staring out the huge window as planes take off or fly over. Nunn misses the mark, however, when staging the central bomb raid mission with superfluous projections of airplanes flying towards the audience. It comes across as merely gratuitous and out of tone with the rest of the production.

The rapid opening pace eventually grinds to a halt when the story line between Miller and Purefoy becomes more central. Sienna Miller looks gorgeous and glamorous in the part, but she is not able to give her character much depth beneath the surface. This often make her scenes less interesting than the rest. The cast on the whole, however, is excellent. There are superb characterisations throughout from the wonderfully grouchy hotelier (a pitch perfect Sarah Crowden) to the extremely prim and punctual wife of a pilot (Emma Handy). The handsome Purefoy is outstanding as the matinee idol who acts suave, but is very much aware of his expiration date.

 Harry Hadden-Paton, Miller & Joe Armstrong

What completely floored me in the end was the stunning third act of this production. In it Harry Hadden-Paton’s pilot breaks down and for the first time shares his feelings with his wife Pat. The actor brings to the surface the fear most pilots must have felt during these bomb raids with incredible power and sensitivity. The most powerful scene (of the entire production) though belongs to Purefoy and the incredible Sheridan Smith. In it Purefoy reads a farewell letter to Smith from her husband, who is assumed dead, and what these two bring to the table is truly a miracle. of stage acting. Its poetry, layers and subtlety brought tears to my eyes.

Which brings me to Sheridan Smith. She really is something very special. After making the part of Elle Woods in the Legally Blonde musical her own and lifting it to a higher plane, she has managed to create another unforgettable character in a completely different vehicle. A remarkable achievement. When her character is reunited with the count and he gently kisses her hand (a moment beautifully worked up to by playwright and director) she had me welling up again! Smith lights up a stage from within and it is her creation that audiences will undoubtedly treasure most after seeing this play.

 The amazing Sheridan Smith lighting up the stage

This last act was sheer perfection and made attending this play more than worthwhile. Nunn stages the end with masterstrokes and effectively creates a bittersweet contrast between collective triumph and personal heartache. This production is not to be missed by playgoers during Rattigan's centennial.

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