Keeler

Synopsis

In 1963, the then Secretary of State of War, John 'Jack' Profumo was forced to resign after it was established that he had lied to the House about the nature of his relationship with a young showgirl, Christine Keeler. The ensuing scandal was in part responsible for the resignation of Prime Minister Harold MacMillan and the suicide of the man who introduced Keeler and Profumo, Stephen Ward. Based on Christine Keeler's 2001 autobiography, The Truth at Last, and written by Gill Adams with Keeler's sanction and involvement, Keeler, reveals for the first time the sensational inside story of the infamous Profumo affair.

Our Review:

19 February 2007

The second show about the Profumo scandal to open in as many weeks is witty, gritty, and a lot clearer than its musical counterpart, A Model Girl.

Its’ the swinging sixties and Britain is on the verge of a sexual and political revolution. Based on Christine Keeler’s autobiography, Gill Adams’ play tells how the topless model and dancer’s simultaneous affairs with the Secretary of State for War John Profumo and Soviet intelligence officer and assistant naval attaché, Eugene Ivanov, caused Profumo to resign and brought about the downfall of the Macmillan government.

Paul Nicholas’ direction is well-paced in Act 1, and the story comes across clearly in Adams’ script. The cast, too, look like their real-life namesakes, and good use is made of projected photographs of people and places involved in the story on Michael Ozouf’s cleverly compact set. A soundtrack of sixties pop hits – which almost gives the feeling of a particularly scandalous episode...

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