Flare Path, Theatre Royal, Haymarket

[Wig Wag]

Has anyone on Pprune been to see the Terence Rattigan play 'Flare Path' ?

Flare Path, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, review - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8380218/Flare-Path-Theatre-Royal-Haymarket-review.html)

I went last week, (plenty of ex military types in the audience) and it was absolutely brilliant. Anyone with a passing interest in the stresses aircrew are under will appreciate the story.

[green granite]

Saw it in the 1950s very funny in places and as you say a good couple of hours entertainment although I'm not certain the youngsters of today would understand it.

[Wig Wag]

Certainly, there were few young people in the audience. However, the play had a highly topical element. Namely stiff upper lip versus the therapy culture. The key scene in the play is when the Wellington pilot breaks down after a hazardous raid in which the aircraft had been badly damaged. His wife runs to the phone to call a doctor because he needs 'help'. A big argument ensues and the stiff upper lip culture wins the day.

The point that comes through is that, in adversity, it's better to bottle up your emotions and tough it out rather than seek some form of counseling.

It's a very topical point - and not lost on a London audience.

I don't see why young people shouldn't find the play interesting - assuming that they have been taught much about World War 2 in the first place . . .

[green granite]

assuming that they have been taught much about World War 2 in the first place

Unfortunately, watching quiz programmes as I do, a lot of them don't seem to know even the simplest thing about WW2.

[moggiee]

Don't worry, the following generation are more clued up on WW2. My kids (14 and 9) have done a lot of work on WW2 at school in the UK and the schools are also fully behind poppies, remembrance and so on.

Contrast that to my time at secondary in the late 70s/early 80s when my head teacher called me a "fascist murder" because I was offered a place at Cranwell. Coming from him, I regarded that as a compliment.

[Tankertrashnav]

I haven't seen FlarePath but I like what I have seen of Rattigan's work, notably The Winslow Boy and The Browning Version. In The Deep Blue Sea the judge's wife has run off with a former fighter pilot, who has abandoned her and is depicted a bit of a bad lot.

Always thought Rattigan was a good judge of character ;).

[Wander00]

Fighter pilot, judge's wife - nah - judge's daughter more likely!

[Chugalug2]

moggiee:
my head teacher called me a "fascist murder" because I was offered a place at Cranwell.
A somewhat prevalent attitude in what is ambiguously called the Teaching Profession it would seem. In the early 70's I was labelled a "Hired Mercenary" by such a couple upon learning that I had just left the RAF.
Mind you things didn't start off well when, having been told that a colleague of theirs had been recently hospitalised by a teenage student, I opined that he should be banged up and the cell-door key thrown away. It seems that he was the real victim and that we were all to blame, in some sense that evaded me then and has since.
I thank goodness that the lot that taught me had all served (in WW2), brooked no nonsense, and gave of their time and energy in what I now see was bounteous profligacy, given that today's yoof is shambling homewards by early afternoon.
Sorry, where was I? Something about a play?

[Wig Wag]

You can listen to a twenty minute interview with the cast of Flarepath on this webpage:

WOS Radio: Purefoy, Smith & Miller Flare at Q&A - Flare Path at Haymarket, Theatre Royal - London - Radio - Whatsonstage.com (http://www.whatsonstage.com/radio/theatre/london/E8831301398969/WOS+Radio%3A+Purefoy%2C+Smith+%26+Miller+Show+Flare+at+Q%26A .html)

The really interesting bit is what the young people thought of the role of the Bomber Command when they understood what it was all about.

[Chugalug2]

Wig Wag:
You can listen to a twenty minute interview with the cast of Flarepath
With some difficulty though. Could WoS Radio try tweaking their balance levels a bit more next time? I'm sure that they have access to a mixer panel given the high tech audio systems installed in many theatres these days. This recording goes from very quiet to Extremely Loud constantly throughout.
As to:
...the role of the Bomber Command when they understood what it was all about.
Any chance we can get them to post their new understanding on this forum if that is the case? It is just that I would say there is a very high incidence here of not understanding what it was all about, or conversely understanding all right, that it was all a waste of time, resource and above all lives. I merely get that impression from many of the comments made on threads here concerning the soon to be built Bomber Command Memorial for example.
If the play does indeed add to an understanding of the role played by Bomber Command and the 55,573 aircrew members that gave their lives in WW2 then it is at least as important as the memorial, if not more so.

[Tankertrashnav]

In 30 + years of dealing in medals and militaria I must have spoken to hundreds of WW2 veterans, including many who flew on Bomber Command.

One who sticks in my mind was a chap who was at first reluctant to talk about his experiences, but after a while told me that he was one of those who had withdrawn from ops because of the sheer pressure he was under. He did not go so far as to tell me he had had "L.M.F." stamped on his records, but it was quite clear he had had a bad time after his voluntary grounding.

I know that all were under the same pressures and most carried on until their tour of ops was over or they paid the ultimate price, but nevertheless I could not think any less of this man who had obviously been haunted by his wartime experiences for the rest of his life and could only sympathise with his situation.

[ColinB]

I saw this in Bath many years ago in a small theatre where the wail of the violin in the small pit "orchestra" added to the atmosphere. It was most evocative.
It was adapted later into The Way to the Stars IMDB at Johnny in the Clouds (1945) - IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038238/)
I would recommend it.

[Wander00]

1992, Wyton, 50th Anniversary of the Pathfinders. I was privileged to have a part in the organisation and the reunion itself. Unforgettable.

[Not a Crew Chief]

Excellent production. Was in London yesterday and part of the day out was to try and get a ticket. Mentioned 'Bomber Command' when buying and £2 goes to the Memorial Fund

Essentially it's 6 years of war condensed into 24hrs acting time and about 3 hrs real time. The stars are very good but Clive Wood steals the show for me as the Adjutant. Very much in the vein of the Adj in Angels One Five. Sarah Crowden is priceless as the hotel owner. It actually seemed strange watching in colour as it were. I always think of anything before the Beatles as being in Black and White.

Colin B, thought it was vaguely familiar and have spent this morning on IMDB and my Guide to Films