May 1940....Downing Street…Three days that will change the course of history…Forever.
Ben Brown’s new political thriller, Three Days in May, takes us behind the doors of Number Ten during three of the most pivotal days in British history when, extraordinarily, giving in to Hitler was considered by some to be a viable option.
In Three Days in May, having urgently assembled the British war cabinet, the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is suddenly confronted with an intense game of political chess as he tries to persuade peace treaty supporters, including Neville Chamberlain that Britain must not give in. Divided on whether to negotiate terms through Mussolini or escalate the battle against fascism alone, one man has to make a monumental decision which will shape the future of the free world…
Warren Clarke has been starring on stage, television and the big screen for over four decades. His wide ranging credits include most recently Jim Flynn in the BBC hit TV series In With The Flynns; three series of Down to Earth, Blackadder, Bleak House, The Invisibles, Coronation Street and the multi-award-winning BBC TV hit Dalziel and Pascoe..
Jeremy Clyde has starred in films such as Doctor Zhivago, Kaspar Hauser and The Musketeer. His extensive TV credits include Downton Abbey, Ashes to Ashes and EastEnders.
Robert Demeger won the Manchester Evening News Best Actor Award for portraying John Merrick in The Elephant Man. He spent 6 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and he’s also played numerous roles at the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and Almeida. He has made around 60 appearances on TV, from Dalziel & Pasco to Doctor Who, and was most recently seen in BBC 2’s The Hour.
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Ben Brown's political thriller Three Days in May opened to London critics last night (2 November 2011, previews from 31 October) at Trafalgar Studios 1.
In May 1940, the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Warren Clarke) has urgently assembled the British war cabinet to attempt negotiations with Fascist and Nazi leaders. Three Days in May takes us to the heart of negotiations during the three most pivotal days in British History.
"It’s a sort of cliff-hanger – 'the tightest corner for Great Britain since 1066,' remarks the lizard-like Lord Halifax — in Ben Brown’s efficiently written waistcoat and watch-chain drama ... And the significance of what doesn’t happen is awkwardly underlined by the narrator/commentator, the young secretary Jock Colville ... the glowering, sweating, ferocious bulldog figure of Warren Clarke’s Churchill chairs the debate with surprising patience ... Alan Strachan’s careful production gives full value to the slightest nuance in argument ... but there’s something incurably inert about the piece until we hear what we’ve come for: Churchill, on his feet, addressing the House. At last, the rhetoric kicks in, and the phrases roll out ... The play is far less compelling, and far less informative, than last year’s Orange Tree collaboration between Brown and Strachan on The Promise ... But that play didn’t have the gargantuan presence of Warren Clarke, whose patriotically overpowering and war-mongering Winnie ... lies meatily half-way between Timothy Spall’s enjoyably coarse knockabout version in The King’s Speech ..."
"Brown has set himself a hard task with a play which largely consists of a group of elderly men sitting in a room and debating, in Churchill’s later phrase, whether it would be better 'to jaw-jaw than to war-war' ...The jawing never stops, and the action rarely gets livelier than Churchill making himself a whisky and soda or lighting a cigar. Nevertheless the play proves both riveting and moving, even though one knows how it will all pan out. We are gently spoon-fed a great deal of background information by the engaging young actor, James Alper ... And the tussle between Churchill ... and Lord Halifax ... proves genuinely gripping. Watching Alan Strachan’s lucid and absorbing staging, one genuinely feels that this is what it might have been like in the inner sanctum of power as Britain braced itself to stand alone ... The production was always going to stand or fall with the actor playing Churchill, and Warren Clarke doesn’t disappoint. He captures that disconcerting mixture of the bulldog and the baby in the great Prime Minister’s physiognomy, and his impersonation of the slurring, rumbling voice, seasoned by cigar smoke and marinated in strong liquor, is equally persuasive ... Robert Demeger touchingly conveys the exhaustion and the dented pride of Chamberlain, and Jeremy Clyde’s posh, cunning, and glibly fluent Lord Halifax put one disconcertingly in mind of some of today’s top Tories. Nevertheless this is one of those all too rare evenings of theatre that make one feel genuinely proud to be British."
"A notable recent attempt came from Timothy Spall in The King's Speech - but now it is Warren Clarke's turn, in his first stage outing for more than a decade. He has got that unmistakable voice just right, as well as the thrust-forward lower lip ... It is hardly a dynamic play that Ben Brown has written - or that director Alan Strachan has staged - but a wordy and worthy drama of the' men in suits sitting around a table looking worried' genre. Clarke has fun with Churchill's divide-and-rule manoeuvre on Chamberlain and Halifax, and there is a particularly cherishable exchange in which Chamberlain and Churchill duke it out over the titles of their respective books. The Struggle For Peace and While England Slept provide a nifty summation of the bind in which the men currently find themselves. Opening and closing narration from Churchill's private secretary Jock Colville (James Alper) smacks a little too much of a history lesson but at least it is one we haven't sat through many times before."
Libby Purves The Times ★★★★ "Brown’s play ... is the first dramatisation of those days. It is gimmick-free, unadorned storytelling ... So the producer Bill Kenwright is brave to hazard a large, unsubsidised, West End theatre on a new work involving, to be frank, five old men sitting at a table and young Jock Colville the secretary (James Alper) as occasional narrator. No women, fighting, bestseller or movie tie-in, no screen megastars (though Warren 'Inspector Dalziel' Clarke is Churchill). Gary McCann’s thoughtful set uses the old map of Europe as floor and backdrop ('Italian Libya' is half the doorway), and on to this is sometimes projected a searchlight beam, an outline of Parliament, or London summer trees. Clarke is a solid Churchill, but it is the interplay of the three Tories that fascinates: [Robert Demeger], a dead ringer for Chamberlain with defeated moustache and mournful eyes, rises to unexpected dignity as he changes sides, telling the scornful Halifax (Jeremy Clyde) how his youth as a failed sisal farmer in the tropics taught him the merit of trying, even to ultimate failure ... It kept me riveted by its very un-theatricality. I felt I was in the room, and glad to be there. Churchill was justified, we know that now. But if it had gone the other way, as he tells Parliament, 'Nations which go down fighting, rise again'. Which may not be true, but is splendid."
"Three Days In May is not for airheads. The West End’s hen parties will find it dry. But anyone interested in history or politics is in for a satisfying, informative evening. Warren Clarke’s Churchill is a little hard to follow at times, so heavy is his jowly, part-impeded speech. He almost sounds more like legendary newspaperman Bill Deedes than Churchill. But Mr Clarke does reasonably well in creating a believable figure. This Churchill is more than a mere impression. Mr Clarke is helped by some really good support. Robert Demeger is brilliantly desiccated and haughty as Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax ... Some music might have evoked the period. I could also have done with some more characters. If this show has a fault it is that it feels maybe a little mean-budgeted. The whole thing could be more theatrical. Does the tale not cry out for an appearance, at very least, by the egregious U.S. ambassador to London, Joseph Kennedy? But don’t let me deter you. This is serious work, historically gripping, despatched with cigar-sucking aplomb."
Over the three days in question, in May 1940, with the war underway but not going well, Winston Churchill wrestles with his cabinet over whether to sue for peace with Hitler, as Italy enters the affray, or stand firm as France and Belgium subside into neutrality.
It’s a sort of cliff-hanger – “the tightest corner for Great Britain since 1066,” remarks the lizard-like Lord Halifax — in Ben Brown’s efficiently written waistcoat and watch-chain drama; but with only one possible outcome, which we already know.
And the significance of what doesn’t happen is awkwardly underlined by the narrator/commentator, the young secretary Jock Colville (James Alper) who introduces Churchill and his chums kneeling at prayer in front of the cabinet table and a large map of Europe.
On the one hand there is Jeremy Clyde’s silky Lord Halifax (who really only did have one hand) and Robert Demeger’s blank and desiccated Neville Chamberlain, appeasers both.
On the other, Michael Sheldon’s mole-like, moustachioed Clement Attlee – “a modest little man with plenty to be modest about” said Churchill — and Dicken Ashworth’s “man of the people” Arthur Greenwood, Clem’s deputy, who reports an appetite for war in the industrial heartlands.
In the middle, the glowering, sweating, ferocious bulldog figure of Warren Clarke’s Churchill chairs the debate with surprising patience, dealing in the second, slightly incomprehensible scene, with the cowardly French prime minister in a green suit (Timothy Kightly), backing out of every door that opens in front of him.
Alan Strachan’s careful production gives full value to the slightest nuance in argument, the pained submissions of Halifax, the cooperative decency of Attlee, the hollow-eyed reminiscences of Chamberlain, and the latter’s gradual shift away from shiftiness; but there’s something incurably inert about the piece until we hear what we’ve come for: Churchill, on his feet, addressing the House.
At last, the rhetoric kicks in, and the phrases roll out: it is better to fight on and perish than to lose as slaves, a rallying call that complements his cabinet threat to arm women and children with knives and to fire his last bullets at any invading enemy from inside a pillar box.
The play is far less compelling, and far less informative, than last year’s Orange Tree collaboration between Brown and Strachan on The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration and the State of Israel.
But that play didn’t have the gargantuan presence of Warren Clarke, whose patriotically overpowering and war-mongering Winnie, with jutting lower lip and giant-sized Havanas, lies meatily half-way between Timothy Spall’s enjoyably coarse knockabout version in The King’s Speech and Robert Hardy’s upmarket, disdainful statesman in The Wilderness Years.
Excellent - gripping drama even though we all know the outcome. - Janet burns
30 Dec 11
As a piece of theatrical entertainment Three days in May is seriously flawed. It opens with a narration from History For Dummies and is almost entirely comprised of elderly men sitting around a table discussing events that we all know the outcome of. However, as a staged re-creation of the dark period when Britain seriously considered sueing for peace with the Nazis it is rivetting. Ben Brown's play is commendably balanced: there are hints of the depression which plagued Churchill (hardly suprising given that Britain appeared so close to defeat); Chamberlain (superbly played by Robert Demeger, looking like he has just arrived from his umpteenth appearance in The Woman in Black)is allowed the dignity of admitting he had badly misjudged Hitler at Munich; and even the appeasement of Halifax is shown to be motivated by a wish to avoid the sacrifice of millions of servicemen and civilians - these are men who still remember the horrors of the First World War, supposedly the war to end all wars. To be honest Warren Clarke doesn't look much like Churchill and the voice is only an approximation, but when he addresses the House of Commons on the cusp of the Dunkirk evacuation you just want to stand and cheer. For a brief moment I was reminded of the current negotiations to save the Euro wich could result in financial catastrophe or, ironically, German economic dominance of the continent, but Three Days in May deals with a time when the stakes were unimaginably higher and the theatre should be packed with school parties. Of course, it should also have been commissioned by the (Royal) National Theatre, but that would never happen under the current regime which should be to their lasting shame so all credit to Bill Kenwright for having the courage to bring this superb event to the West End. - David Baxter
09 Dec 11
Well, here we are in December 2011 in the middle of a crucial few days for the fate of Europe¡.and whilst all of this was going on, I was watching a play about a crucial few days for the fate of Europe 72 years ago. ¡..
Though I studied history until I was 18, I¡¯m a lot more ignorant about the Second World War than my Icelandic companion on Tuesday evening. The History curriculum ended in 1939 and my ¡®consciousness¡¯ of current affairs started in the late 60¡äs, so the 30 or so years in-between find me lacking. To say that this play enthralled a dummy and a veritable expert is therefore a compliment ¨C bringing the audience average age down (so rare these days) was a bonus!
The play tells the story of, well, three days in May 1939, during which a historical decision was made which determined not just the rest of the war, but the shape of Europe since. Should we go with the French Premier and start negotiating another ¡¯piece of paper¡¯ like the Munich Agreement, or continue the war? This decision takes place on the eve of the Dunkirk evacuation and during the fall of Belgium and is made by the War cabinet led by Churchill (in office just 18 days) riding a wave of popular support, Chamberlain (out of office for the same period) still leading his party but out-of-favour with the people, foreign secretary Lord Halifax favouring appeasement and Labour leaders Attlee and Greenwood, keen to do what the people (and the unions) want.
Simply staged in a room in Number 10 with occasional scenes in the garden and in Westminster Abbey and the House of Commons, Ben Brown¡¯s play is a subtle combination of the historical, political, psychological and personal. Churchill¡¯s assistant Jock Colville acts as narrator and adds his personal story. It contains fascinating roles for men of a certain age which this cast clearly relish. Warren Clarke is better known for his TV work, but he really impresses on stage. He creates his own Churchill rather than an impersonation and it¡¯s finely detailed and nuanced. Robert Demeger¡¯s Chamberlain seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, in his face and in right in his eyes; he turns out to be a somewhat sympathetic character. Halifax however is a deeply unsympathetic character, which Jeremy Clyde pulls off cleverly. James Alper¡¯s assistant / narrator is important to the structure of the play and he handles it very well. They¡¯re lucky to have actors of the calibre of Michael Sheldon, Dicken Ashworth, Timothy Kightley and Paul Ridley in the smaller but key roles in this all-male cast.
The hands of Alan Strachan¡¯s direction and Gary McCann¡¯s design are hardly noticeable, which allows the story to speak for itself. It feels a little old-fashioned, but as most other plays at the moment seem over-engineered, this proves rather refreshing. A very pleasant surprise. - Gareth James
09 Dec 11
Outstanding.....well worth going to! - Mr P D Shaw
Opened 29 Sep 1930, on site of the Old Ship Tavern. Famous for the Whitehall Farces (Brian Rix) which started in 1950. 608 seats. Member of the Society of London Theatre. An [ATG] member. Closed after the run of Abigail's Party July 12th 2003. The 377 seat Trafalgar Studio opens early 2004. A further 100 seat studio space in the pipeline. Renamed from the Whitehall to Trafalgar Studios.
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