It may date back to the Thirties but director Paul Miller believes the themes of Terence Rattigan's debut play still resound today.

As he succinctly put it when he spoke exclusively to The Guide: "We are still all at it - and young men will still go to any lengths to get it!"

French Without Tears follows a group of young Englishmen as they go to college to learn French and wow the girls. But their seemingly foolproof plan is foiled by the unpredictable nature of love and women, especially in the form of the beautiful Diana.

"It is very much a period piece," says Miller. "The attitudes are so different in many ways to what they are now, but because you can see the differences you can see the similarities too."

On its theatrical release, French Without Tears was a huge hit, running for almost three years in London's West End and providing a launch pad for many new young actors, including Rex Harrison, Trevor Howard and Jessica Tandy.

"It had a frisson about it," says Miller. "It was only because it was so amazing and charming that it could get away with the male lead calling the leading lady a bitch on stage."

Things were soon to change though with the rise of the angry young man and the 1956 revolution in theatre, which saw gritty realist playwrights such as John Osborne replace Rattigan in the critics' hearts.

"The 1956 revolution was pretty much about sweeping away Rattigan and replacing his craftsmanship with individual strong feeling on the stage," says Miller.

"So violent was the change that it swept Rattigan away for a generation, and it is only in the past ten to 15 years that people have been reading the plays."

In recent years, it has been Rattigan's darker later works, such as Separate Tables, The Winslow Boy and Deep Blue Sea, which have been revived.

But Paul decided he wanted to go back to the very start of Rattigan's career and investigate his first stage offering.

"It has a Chekhovian quality to it," he says. "It is about people in flight from their own feelings and the lengths they will go to avoid getting in touch with their own feelings.

"Rattigan was a fabulous craftsman in the way he manufactures people on and off stage - it is so brilliantly put together and crafted it is impossible not to admire."

Miller also made a conscious decision not to cast big established names in the main roles.

"The play is about a group of very young people so I wanted to cast it that way. I have been very lucky to meet this group of people who are so talented and have great charm."

And in particular he was looking forward to finishing the English Touring Theatre's run in Brighton.

"Terence Rattigan lived in Brighton for some time so it couldn't be a nicer place to have the last night. I'm sure we will be celebrating in style."

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