The Art of Concealment at Jermyn Street Theatre

The Art of Concealment at Jermyn Street Theatre

12 January, 2012
by: Naima Khan

Naima Khan review a new play by Giles Cole on the man behind the facade of Terence Rattigan.

Despite the title of this play, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of art to the concealment of playwright Terrence Rattigan. Instead, his true self simmers at the surface threatening to burst forth at a careless word from one of his many hangers-on, boyfriends or household staff. But the fragility of his circumstance makes it all the more compelling.

We briefly learn about his time as a Harrovian cricket player and his black sheep status among his lawyer brother and philandering diplomat father. But what you get from the play that you might not get from a biography is a sense of the language – and with it the attitude – of his peers. The “righty-hos” and endless “my dears” might seem circumstantial but the over politeness, the fake affection, the formulaic apologies, and the slick ways of distancing himself from off-the-cuff remarks about being “a bugger” are what writer Giles Cole highlights so brilliantly in this work of fiction based on biographical fact.

Oddly, the harsher Rattigan we see in this play, the one with an intense power to reject and emasculate others, is in contrast only to the preconceptions of the audience. This might not be too much of problem – after all why would you see the play if you didn't know about Rattigan's reputation in the first place? – but at times it's almost too introspective. We don't see enough of a contrast with his public persona to appreciate the stress of playing a high-flying darling of the West End. Add to that the overtly simplistic way of spelling things out, usually via the underwritten Vera, Rattigan's mother, and the plays lacks a sophistication. This is only doubled by the clichés of camp, gay men (“ooh y'cheeky bitch!”) that spill from a fictional acquaintance, Freddie Gilmour, who the programme informs us is inspired by several of Rattigan's friends.

Nonetheless, Cole manages to overcome all this with the structure of his play, which sees a now fearless but fragile elderly Rattigan confronted with visions of his younger self (a flawless Dominic Tighe). As the old man, played with affable gentility by Alistair Findlay, addresses his own demons, including his audience, he becomes insightfully honest, simultaneously brutal and defensive in his own assessment of himself – which, like the rest of the play, is quite captivating if a little blunt.  



The Art of Concealment runs at Jermyn Street Theatre until 28th February 2012. 



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Naima Khan