Less Than Kind

Terence Rattigan’s comedy may be billed as lost but not so his wit and humour. This wartime comedy seemed fresher and more poignant today than much contemporary comedy, especially on TV. William Gaminara is excellent as the right wing industrialist in the cabinet. Sue Holderness is simply marvellous as his mistress and mother of Michael, played so well by Charlie Hamblett. Morality, politics, maternal instincts and loyalty are all called into question as the play unfolds. And who better than Rattigan to do that unfolding? Gaminara is superbly cast, powerful and yet vulnerable as a lover then again strong as he contrives to win back his mistress. Hamblett plays the boy with an innocence and fiery injustice but can also play the player within the play as he contrives to be Hamlet to his mother’s Gertrude. Sue Holderness has all the clipped manners of the period, a cold ambition and yet a sense of duty that today seems so odd. Rattigan’s play more than proves that modern generations did not invent sex and all of the intrigues that it can inspire and it reaffirms his worth as a comic social commentator.

Theatre Royal, Brighton, 28 May 2013

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