'Plague Over England' at The Duchess Theatre

Chris got cheap tickets to see 'Plague Over England' at the Duchess Theatre the other night so took me as a break from the drudgery at work at the moment. All I knew was that it was about John Gielgud.

It's the tale of Sir John Gielgud getting trapped cottaging in a gentleman's public convenience in 1952, his fear of exposure and hitting the headlines, his recovery by going back on stage as planned and continuing his career as one of our foremost thespians. There's a sub-plot about police entrapment and the nightlife of small clubs for gentlemen fearful of police raids. There's also the sub-plot of a younger pair - the policeman who traps Sir John (what a coincidence) and the posh son of a judge who regularly sends gays to prison - falling in and out of love. Another sub-plot has the private secretary of a Tory minister being infatuated with an American - this plot has no real purpose other than to suggest even people in high places can be gay (how novel).

It has all the ingredients of being something good - and I enjoyed it, I must say - but I felt it would benefit from another re-draft to smooth out some of the sub-plots and increase the internal consistency. There were some set pieces - like the Tory minister making an anti-gay speech (which provides the plays name) while the youngsters kissed at the front of the stage - that just looked a little too obvious and strained.

So. On to the good bits. Celia Imrie! I don't think I've seen Celia on stage before but I thought she was marvellous playing Sybill Thorndike and the ex-chorus girl owner of a gentleman's club - the stage seemed to come alive whenever she stepped onto it. She was excellent. I also enjoyed the 3 or 4 characters played by David Burt who will forever be Petal from Boy George's 'Taboo' in my mind. He brought some much needed humour and lightness to the stage, and also some pathos at the end when, as the janitor in the public convenience, he discusses significant others with John Gielgud and says he's never had a 'special person' in his life, a lonely life but still smiling and offering cups of tea. I found that scene quite touching. I'll also mention Michael Feast as Sir John (he worked with Gielgud years ago) and he had the mannerisms and the voice down to a tee. I didn't find him very sympathetic though.

I enjoyed it and so did the rest of the audience from some of the guffaw laughs. It was probably about one third empty which I hope reflects it being a Wednesday night rather than it failing. I loved the audience though - I was definitely in the younger 20% with most of the audience seeming to be gentlemen of a certain age who were either theatrical in nature or whose wives were at a knitting circle that night (nudge nudge). Ahem. And they weren't very quick at getting to the bar at half time so I picked up our drinks very quickly (being young and spritely in comparison). I admit to wondering how many of them might have serviced Sir John when they younger and whether this was a trip down memory lane...

It's well worth seeing and the Duchess is small enough to be intimate. It also serves Guinness (always a good sign).