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Single Spies, Theatre Royal, Brighton, April 7
12:31pm Wednesday 9th April 2008
Alan Bennett takes two of the infamous Cambridge Spies, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, and conjures up a fascinating and typically witty double bill.
Both seemed to live charmed lives with their secret going undetected for a long time, but Bennett argues it was likely their privileged background and status as members of the establishment which saved them. How could their peers suspect them? Did they not belong to the same clubs and use the same tailors?
The first play, An Englishman Abroad, is based on actress Coral Browne's encounter with Burgess in Moscow, where she was appearing in a production of Hamlet. At this time, Burgess was a pathetic alcoholic living in squalor and longing for gossip of his old friends and the English clothes Moscow couldn't provide.
Blunt is, by contrast, debonair in Surveyor Of The Queen's Pictures, the second play. Although uncovered as the spy ring's fourth man he has not yet been unmasked publicly. His questioning over the identity of the fifth man is cleverly linked to the discovery of a fifth person hidden in a painting by Titian. In a chance encounter, the Queen questions him knowingly about fakes and forgeries.
Nigel Havers is suitably seedy and amusing as Burgess, not overplaying the drunkenness and camp characteristics. His Blunt is an excellent contrast - sophisticated and erudite. The essence of Coral Browne is nicely captured by Diana Quick who avoids impersonation, likewise with her portrayal of the Queen.
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