(UK, 2016) Director: Carrie Cracknell. Stage play by Terreance Rattigan. Cast: Helen McCrory, Tom Burke, Hubert Burton and Yolanda Kettle
National Theater Live's masterpiece by the late Terrence Rattigan (The Winslow Boy, The Browning Version) contains one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama. Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) is found by her neighbors in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, in her flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. As the audience learns about Collyer's tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the emerging breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge, the fragile veneer of post-war British civility is pierced by a brutal sense of loss. The once-respectable woman who defies polite society for an unrequited passion is a passionate cri de coeur from Rattigan, writing at a time when his homosexuality was not only unconventional, but illegal. "In an indelible performance, Helen McCrory is buffeted, wretched, plaintive, strung-along, strung-up, manipulative. Yet she makes of Hester Collyer a remarkable and unexpected heroine." - Susannah Clapp , The Guardian 4 stars. Running Time: 2 hours 30 mins inc. 20 min interval.
Helen McCrory blazes. Guardian
Achingly good. Helen McCrory delivers one of the performances of the year. Evening Standard
This production is a stand-out. The Times
Location
Cinestudio Theater (View)
300 Summit Street
Hartford, CT 06106
United States
