Repression and passion laid bare in ‘Deep Blue Sea’

Up next in the National Theatre Live series at the Douglass Theatre is a revival of Terence Rattigan’s 1952 “The Deep Blue Sea,” a heart-rending, gut-wrenching tale of repressed sexuality.

One of the most magnificent things about Great Britain’s National Theatre is the sheer diversity of its repertoire. Just weeks ago the current season opened with “The Threepenny Opera,” a musical based on an 18th century work. In the revival of this piece by Rattigan, we are in the presence of something entirely different. This semi-autobiographical drama is, at least indirectly, a vivid reminder of just how much our attitudes about war, alcoholism and homosexuality have evolved.

In “The Deep Blue Sea,” which is set in the repressed England of the 1950s, shortly after World War II, famed actress Helen McCrory plays Hester Collyer, who is married to a High Court judge — until she becomes passionately involved with a former World War II Royal Air Force pilot, who boasts alcohol problems among his other allurements. Tom Burke plays Freddie, the pilot in this disastrous relationship, which ultimately leads to a failed suicide attempt by Hester.

London critics have pointed out that the playwright’s life holds parallels with the plot of the play, since Rattigan was abandoned by a lover who left him for a younger man prior to putting his head in the oven. It is imperative for the audience to realize that at the time homosexuality was still illegal in England and that PTSD was not yet fully understood.

As a gay man in the 1950s, Rattigan was personally acquainted with some of the emotions portrayed in the play. Although one of only four British playwrights awarded with a knighthood in the 20th century, Rattigan is the least familiar of the group on this side of the pond, so the current revival of this powerful drama is most welcome.

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Repression and passion laid bare in ‘Deep Blue Sea’."