Wonderful play, Rattigan at his peak, exploring an area he knows well - the passionate versus the respectible. Hesther, she of the high sex drive, as married low sex drive Bill Collyer, and thrown it all away to run of with high sex drive Freddie Page, who doesn't really love her. There is a neighbour, Mr Miller, a former doctor struck off for an unmentioned scandal, possibly homosexuality.
Rattigan writes with a great deal of warmth and empathy for all his characters, even Freddie. He depicts the shabby world with its bookies, and seen it all landlady, with tremendous insight. It's great theatre with its cramped setting. The incompetence of the Vivien Leigh film version annoys me after reading this.
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