The Deep Blue sea by Terence Rattigan

THE DEEP BLUE SEA Isa straightforward tale about a middle aged women, separated from her judge husband, who alls in love with Freddy, a much younger and feckless pilot.  The story begins with Hester (the woman) trying to kill herself but doing it deliberately badl, so as to be successfully discovered.  The Ensuing action shows her finally splitting up with Freddy, but learning to step out on her own.

The play has echoes of THR BROWNIING VERSION in its depiction of a relationship soured over time, but deals with it in far bolder fashion.  in AnatoleLitvak’s 156 film she is played by Vivien Leigh, who experienced similar emotions when she fell in love with Australian actor Peter Finch while still marred to Laurence Olivier. She is completely head over heels in love, but realises that is not enough at the end of the play. Freddie is a good sort, but much happier in male Company where he cN play the part of a slightly perplexed duffer.  He is no good at handling Hester’s emotions.

• Hester is almost broken in pieces at the beginning, but recovers with the help of .  Kindly doctor Felix Aylmer.  Hester’s condition is not as bad as she claims: we observe her love of an audience to perform in front of. There is something about Leigh’s performance that remains strangely unattractive, as if she is continually in search of an audience because she lacks the courage of her convictions.

• Or maybe the desire to perform stems from the environment.  Litvak has opened up the play a bit, and set it in the seedier parts of Chelsea. Her room has the atmosphere of gentle seediness, with cheap furniture adorning her pearls.  Presided over by a nosey yet kindly landlady (Dandy Nichols), the room anticipates ROOM AT THE TOP, the kind of place that’s more suitable for rebellion than faded gentility .  Hester has obviously fallen upon hard times, but does not want to admit it, especially to strangers, especially men. Hence her need to perform, even while ostensibly ending her life.

• Freddy Page is played by Kenneth More. He is a feckless soul, preferring to drown his sorrows in alcohol rather than face up to responsibilities. His decision to leave Hester and work in South America is entirely provoked by the desire to escape from a world he can’t handle. He likes the sex, but cannot take the other responsibilities. In the end we understand his departure is a good thing for Hester, despite her desire to kill herself once more.
• In the end Hester, albeit snuffling profusely, comes to an understanding of herself and what she wants. Her husband offers her a life of affluence and no responsibility; she can flit about at home, go to parties, and enjoy the social advantages of going to parties. Or she can stay in her seedy bedsit and carve out a new life on her own, in spite of the potential hazards involved. Litvak emphasises the difficulties of the decision. The Judge is played by Emlyn Williams, a safe, reassuring presence with bags of money and status. Yet for this Hester this way of life is sexless, and hence devoid of fun. She might be middle_aged, but that does not preclude her from a promiscuous life if she should desire it.  She does not want the conventional life of a mid_50s woman, but seeks to flout convention and branch out on her own.
• For modern women, the choice can be roughly similar.  Either consign yourself to an assigned role or branch out on your own.  You might not be as beautiful as Vivien Leigh, but you still have that spirit of discovery that can encourage you to do anything.
• Litvak’s decision to open out the piece in central London makes it more of a period-piece: the emphasis here focuses on women of the mid-50s experiencing the same crises that the Angry Young Men experienced a couple of years later.  But Rattigan’s statements about the position of women and how men treat them are still very applicable today, especially at a time of the Female First movement, when so many women are making public statements about their treatment in public.