A Marvellous Year For Plums

Hugh Whitemore’s new play is a beautifully devised saga covering the events of the Suez crisis of 1956 through to the late 1960s. This interweaves complex relationships between Anthony and Clarissa Eden, Ian and Ann Fleming, Hugh Gaitskill, Anthony Nutting and Selwyn Lloyd. It’s complex in its politics and also in its romantic intrigues and explores themes of memory and deceit, how we chose to remember and who, and how we choose to deceive. The superb company includes powerful performances from Nicholas Le Prevost, Imogen Stubbs, Anthony Andrews and Abigail Cruttenden but the whole is held together by some wonderful staging and direction from Philip Franks and a stunning set from Simon Higlett. Often filmic in its transitions I felt the only weakness came from recurring dance sequences meant to mark the passing of time but actually cluttering the flow. Even so, a fascinating history, a great study of truths, lies and the timeless nature of political scandal.

Chichester Festival Theatre, 17 May 2012

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