'Single Spies' is the umbrella title given to two one-act plays both by Alan Bennett when performed together in the same evening. It makes sense to put the two plays together as they both cross-reference each other, and are essentially plays about the same subject.
The first play is "An Englishman Abroad", and is a stage adaptation of a fuller TV play written by Bennett in 1988. It recounts the chance but very real meeting between Australian actress Coral Browne and one of the more notorious members of the so-called Cambridge Spy Ring, Guy Burgess, in Moscow in 1951. Browne was in Moscow performing Gertrude in 'Hamlet' with The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, alongside a friend and ex-Cambridge chum of Burgess, Michael Redgrave (playing Hamlet), and so Burgess went to the theatre to watch the performance. He invites Browne back to his "luxurious" (at least for Soviet standards of the time) apartment and persuades her to send him over some English-tailored suits.
The second play, "A Question Of Attribution" looks at Sir Anthony Blunt, the oldest member of the 'Spy Ring', who here is being interrogated by a member of MI5, whilst in his positon as Surveyor Of The Queen's Pictures. And although the characters and the background are accurate, the accounts within this play are ficticious. There is a very interesting proposition made in this play, which centres around a painting in the Queen's collection thought to be by Titian, and as the story progresses we see that the layers of this painting reveal hidden images and secrets, just as the implication lies heavy on Blunt, that his unmasking might reveal layers of himself which have been hidden. Who do we really know? Who can we really trust? A further and more indepth look at the painting reveals not just two people, as was first thought, but five. Could this be alluding to the 'Cambridge Five' perhaps?
As a historical note, it may be worth just taking a little time to explain the background. During the period of geo-political tension between "East" and "West" which was commonly known as The Cold War (lasting from just after WW2 until into the early 1990s) spies were very much the infantrymen going over the front with fixed bayonets; they were essential to both sides to pass on military intelligence and other secrets and as such, were always very much at risk of being caught. The 'Cambridge Five' or 'The Cambridge Spy Ring', were the names given to 5 ex-Cambridge graduates who all took up high office within the British civil service, and were all recruited by the Soviets as they believed that Soviet Communism was the best defence there was against the real threat of Facism. The five members were eventually exposed, but interestingly none of them ever faced trial. The five members were Donald McLean, Guy Burgess, Harold Philby, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross. These plays look at just two of these five; the two who have for another reason, become even more notorious. Both Burgess and Blunt were openly homosexual, at a time when this was a criminal offence in England. It was only their high rank within the government and their 'breeding' which kept them from being prosecuted for it.
Taken together, these two plays offer a fascinating insight into the mores of the period, the attitudes of the times, and more importantly, reveal perhaps more about the playwright, Bennett, than he would care to admit. Oxford educated, history graduate, and of course openly homosexual too, there is a feeling that much in these plays comes from a deeper place than just historical interest.
In this evening's production, the first play was directed by Helen Bingle, and the second by Linda Batson. Both directors chose to use the same stage configuration - a simple thrust format with audience on two sides. The sets were both very realistic and well thought out. I noticed a bottle of Russian vodka in the first play for example. Costuming was excellent, and the lighting and sound were good throughout. Both plays though could have benefitted greatly from a change of gear. Both were rather pedestrian and slow this evening, and certainly needed the pace lifting. Both plays are very wordy and have a lot of information in them which is needed in order for the audience to understand the premises, but this did tend to drag the pace down even further. With this being their opening night however, I feel sure that the pace will pick up considerably with another couple of runs. The historical and pertinent messages / information in both plays was excellently signposted however, and we were able to understand context and sympathise with whichever side we wanted. What was missing, to a greater or lesser extent in both plays, was comedy. There are some extremely humorous lines in both plays, and we must remember that Bennett's plays are not historical dramas, despite their historical and political accuracy, but are pieces of entertainment. I feel both directors could have elicted much more fun and humour from both scripts, which would have in turn, lifted the pace.
It must also be said that due to one of the cast members testing positive for covid, the stage manager, Victoria Johnson picked up the book, and went on stage herself this evening as the leading character Coral Browne in the first play, and made an amazingly good job of it too.
I enjoyed the performances from all this evening, they were all centred, appropriate, and unwavering; and all had a good command of the stage, and knew their character's development both from their own perspectives and the arc of the narrative. Gemma Duncan's knowing questioning of Blunt in the second play as HMQ was superbly placed. Paul Lewis made a suitably drunken and slovenly ex-Cambridge old 'darling' with seeming ease, whilst in the second play his co-conspirator Sir Anthony Blunt was convincing as the art expert, allowing us to see through his armour occasionally when threatened with his imminent exposure and lack of anonymity.
Single Spies continues its run at Wilmslow Green Room until Saturday 9 April.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2.4.22
on - 2.4.22
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