'The Last of the Duchess' at Hampstead Theatre

Last week we went to see 'The Last of the Duchess' at the Hampstead Theatre at Swiss Cottage. This was the first time I'd been to that theatre and I was surprisingly impressed with the place, only built a few years ago so there's lots of space, restaurant and bar areas and nice comfy seats. They do lovely wedges (ie fat chips).

It's a short play about the last days of the Duchess of Windsor in her mansion in Paris. We don't see the Duchess, but we do see her lawyer, a mature woman who considers herself to be the protector of the Duchess and a younger journalist whose job is to get an interview with the Duchess. It's based on the true story of the journalist going to Paris in the 80s to interview the Duchess but ends up interviewing the lawyer and arranging for Lord Snowdon to photograph her. For some light relief we have Lady Mosley, also an exile in Paris, who visits the Duchess and who knows Lady Caroline, the journalist, and they have an oddly endearing chat.

I wasn't sure what to expect at all but I most impressed by the construction of the play, the simple set and the great acting by the three leading ladies. We had Sheila Hancock as Mme Blum, the fierce French lawyer and Anna Chancellor as the journalist with the drink problem, plus Angela Thorne as the gossipy Lady Diana Mosley. All three ladies were excellent, fully convincing and appalling and endearing by turns. It was one of those rare plays that I wanted to go on for just a little bit longer so I could learn some more about the characters.

Go and see it if you can - and have the chips!