The Winslow Boy, Theatre Royal, Brighton
TERENCE Rattigan's The Winslow Boy (Theatre Royal, Brighton, this week) has become a modern classic and this revival is further evidence of its resonance.
A 14-year-old naval cadet, Ronnie Winslow, is expelled from Dartmouth College for allegedly stealing a five shilling postal order from another boy. His father believes his son is innocent and briefs a famous barrister, Sir Robert Morton, to bring the case to Parliament and establish the fact that the boy is no thief.
In the process of this expensive business the pressure of being in the public eye takes its toll on the family each of whom have to make sacrifices. It even destroys the engagement of the elder daughter who is shortly to be married.
It prompts the question: was it all really worth it? Even the boy seems to have moved on.
Clearly it was to the father (the play is based on a real case). A retired bank manager he becomes a walrus-like character in Timothy West's fine performance. I have long thought that Mr West took over the baton for making the ordinary man seem extraordinary, from Sir Ralph Richardson. His Winslow is dedicated to truth and justice and is a man of stubborn integrity and dry humour.
Outstanding in a strong cast are Adrian Lukis, a towering advocate of great presence as Sir Robert Morton, a kind of Marshall Hall; and Claire Cox, a confident campaigner for women's rights.A tall figure as young Ronnie, Hugh Wyld lacks the required vulnerability.
Stephen Unwin's well paced production ends with the rumbling of First World War guns as the Edwardian era slips over a dark horizon to herald a new and very different world.
Mark Gale
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Weather for Lewes
Thursday 24 May 2012
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Temperature: 14 C to 22 C
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Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
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