Flare Path

Terence Rattigan’s unsentimental War-Time-Weepy has more convincing plot twists than any “Agatha Christie” and keeps you guessing until the very end, which will still surprise you. The typical “Dear John…” love triangle soon has tears brimming, of both laughter and distress. Rattigan’s trick is to make us care for each of the characters, all of them. You’ll gasp silently at their fatal embarrassments (did they really say that?). The Countess, a cheeky under-age barman, the gunner’s wife, all are in peril under the authentic roar of bombers and the dangerous illumination of their flare path. Most at risk emotionally are the mess-room buffoon, his glamorous wife and the Hollywood cad, but none are quite what they seem. Youngsters with their lives ripped apart by war grow up before our eyes and find new, unbidden strengths.
“I don’t understand… (love, RAF banter, Polish, The War)” but Rattigan does. The West-End golden boy was flying as a rear-gunner when he crafted this masterly tale and director Justin Audibert’s excellent cast, led impeccably by Olivia Hallinan and Leon Ockenden, make sure it rings true. Veteran Philip Franks brings jovial authority and producer Alastair Whatley shines in the complex role of the husband. Not-to-be-missed!

Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, 18 August 2015
Rating:
Andrew Connal