Inadmissible Evidence

Synopsis

Bill Maitland, a middle aged lawyer, struggles to avoid the harsh truths of his life and keep a hold on reality. As those closest to him begin to draw away, he puts himself on trial to fight for his sanity. John Osborne's poignant, witty and intensely compelling portrait of loss, betrayal and defeat releases the author's characteristic display of soaring rhetorical venom to powerful effect.

Our Review:

19 October 2011

The old criticism of John Osborne is that he wrote not plays, but character studies. It holds true for Inadmissible Evidence and, though it gives Douglas Hodge opportunity to dazzle, the play never gains momentum of its own. As the chaotic and splenetic solicitor Bill Maitland, Hodge is both protagonist and power generator. Were he to stop, you half suspect the lights would switch off.

Osborne himself was notoriously insecure and, like Jimmy Porter before him, Maitland is a bottled expression of the playwright’s own emotional state. The famous anger remains, but unlike Porter’s, it is turned inwards in self-loathing. Maitland recognises that he is the root cause of his own problems, but can’t get a decent foothold on life to turn things around. We see him over two days in which he barely leaves his grimy office, which, in Soutra Gilmour’s design has the look of a fish-tank that needs cleaning.

Maitland is an alcoholic, a...

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Latest User Review

David Baxter - 4 November 2011:

Inadmissable Evidence is virually a one-man show and as the rather seedy solicitor whose grip on his work, relationships and sanity is slipping away, Douglas Hodge gives an extraordinary bravura performance. Maitland is a bit like a brutally heterosexual Butley but crucially lacking the charm of Simon Gray's creation. That, together with behaviour which verges on bullying and sexual harrassment, leads to a character with no redeeeming features and consequently it's impossible to sympathise with his breakdown. Maitland also seems to be irresistable to a vast range of women which strains credulity to the limit. The excellent supporting cast are given little more than cameos (one entirely wordless) but it's especially pleasing to see the apparently under-rated Esther Hall back on stage after the potential career graveyard of those BT ads. As with The Entertainer Osborne does not appear to have realised when enough is enough and by half-way through the second act I couldn't wait to escape from his loathsome creation....

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