This Happy Breed

Synopsis

London family saga. This Happy Breed covers the broad sweep of twenty years, from June 1919 to June 1939. Against the background of great international events of the time - the General Strike, the abdication of Edward VIII, and the rise of Hitler - Coward reveals the lives of the recently demobbed Frank Gibbons and his typically suburban family and friends.

Our Review:

27 July 2011

Frank Gibbons, living right by the Clapham omnibus, is Noel Coward’s idealised English working-man, ever grateful to his employer in this cavalcade of the lower classes. He’s similar to his new neighbour and wartime friend Bob Mitchell - and Bob’s son Billy, a bastion of the navy in which he serves.

As the years roll between the two World Wars, the Gibbons bicker, splinter and die, but Coward’s spokesman Frank remains a stalwart through all nine scenes, finally passing on his sense of English qualities to a baby grandson.

Coward’s wit is sure as ever; he has an acute sense of how wedding preparations can provoke tempers. But his definition of happiness for this breed is the opposite of the artistic temperaments in his best-known comedies. Being ordinary, decent and right-minded is what matters.

It’s unlikely a production will better Stephen Unwin’s for this year’s Peter Hall season. As [Simon Higlet...

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Latest User Review

RT - 7 August 2011:

This period piece will bring back many a memory of what it used to be like for the older generations. Mouthy kids of today probably won't get it, they will not believe how the offspring looked up to their parents the way they did then. All the performers got their characters just right, good ensemble playing all round, I do have a hearing aid but had no trouble from way back in the dress circle getting all the dialogue. With sympathetic direction, jokes from a different era well timed,and one very good scene when bad news was delivered through the patio with no words audible some subtle lighting changes and silent actions working perfectly to convey the tragedy, super work yet simple. A very enjoyable taking one back experience. ...

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