STILL LIFE

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

★★★★

“A bittersweet tale succinctly expressed and elegantly performed”

Noël Coward’s “Still Life” was first presented in 1936 at the Phoenix Theatre, starring the writer himself alongside Gertrude Lawrence. Although one-act plays were unfashionable at the time, Coward was a particular fan of the genre so, in 1935, he conceived the idea of a set of short plays to run in repertory under the umbrella title “Tonight at 8.30”. Most people, of course, know the story through David Lean’s full-length feature film “Brief Encounter”. A romantic drama that portrays the chance meeting, ensuing love affair and ultimate leave-taking of a doctor and a married woman. It’s not a happy ending and is one of Coward’s more serious undertakings.

The sadness and seriousness of the lead couple’s secret affair, however, is offset by lighter moments courtesy of the other characters that populate the refreshment room of Milford Junction railway station. The current production, directed by Tam Williams, brings these contrasts to the fore with a remarkable, site-specific staging in the grand saloon of Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Despite it being a touch more opulent than Milford Junction, it is an ideal setting. The audience are seated at the tables (carriages) that surround the central bar, becoming ‘extras’ to the action while taking afternoon tea. The station café is run by Myrtle (Elizabeth Elvin) who spends most of the time flirtatiously fending off the amorous attentions of ticket-inspector Albert (Antony Jardine). Waiting for her train is Laura (Rachel Pickup) who, when she gets a bit of coaldust in her eye, provides the prefect cue for physician Alec (Alasdair Craig) to come to the rescue. A series of five vignettes charts the course of their romance over the subsequent year.

The sparks that fly don’t ever light up the sky, but the subdued, Englishness of the courtship is its essential charm. Both Pickup and Craig are masters of the understatement. Pickup is steeped in dignity and composure while Craig’s contained matter-of-factness betrays his profession and consequent social interactions. The emotion fizzes beneath this decent and proper veneer and eventually, when they seem to be about to break through, it is all just too late. Elvin’s Myrtle is playful but down to earth, tolerating with unfettered affection Jardine’s frisky station master. Meanwhile, there is Seren Sandham-Davies as Beryl who never fails to add to the delightful dynamics (Jardine and Sandham-Davies also double up – demonstrating a striking versatility – as other colourful characters).

Music is a pivotal part of the production, with Jardine switching from banjo to guitar, and Sandham-Davies linking the scenes at the piano. Frequently bursting into song, they never break out of character – it’s what these café workers do to pass the time of day. The hustle bustle of the station whirls around us like a delicate gale, the eye of which contains the stillness of Laura and Alec’s story. Theirs is a still life, but unseen currents are raging under the surface. The climax is upon us all too soon, and it lands with a sadness. Laura wants to follow her heart, but the unfortunate arrival of Dolly, her busy-body friend (Elvin) delays her, and offstage we hear the sound of Alec’s train departing one final time.

The setting is lavish, but the high ceilings of the salon are a challenge to the acoustics. Words are sometimes lost and aurally we occasionally lose sense of the location. But the cast rise above it, refusing to let the emotional richness go amiss. A bittersweet tale succinctly expressed and elegantly performed. There is no back story, and some of the side story (glimpses of Laura’s home life, for example) is passed over. But we get all we need from the characterisation. And we get more that we need on the tiered cake stands that are brought to the tables. Tea and sympathy – an English cliché perhaps, but the perfect combination in this case.

STILL LIFE

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Reviewed on 7th September 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Andreas Lambis

STILL LIFE

★★★

“a sturdy bio-drama from a master in connecting the past to the present”

It’s 1939, war is in the air and we are in Hyde Park. But not in London. Hyde Park is the family estate of the Roosevelts where their sprawling country home Springwood is. President Franklin D and his wife Eleanor, together – uncomfortably – with his mother, the actual owner of Springwood, are about to host the first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to the United States. A picnic is planned. It seems a trivial detail, but how will the royal couple get on with hot dogs and beer?

Richard Nelson’s new play is enjoying its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre and it’s a suitable place and audience for this clever dramatisation of a pivotal moment in history. It’s job is to explore relationships. Upfront is the ‘special’ relationship between the UK and the US which this moment in time may enshrine. The US was late into the first world war. Can the King George V and Queen Elizabeth count on that country’s support again should conflict erupt in Europe?

Also in the foreground of the drama are the multiple personal relationships: the President and his wife; Eleanor and Mother; the King and Queen; and Franklin D Roosevelt’s other ‘special’ relationships. Under all of this lie the more abstract relationships: between leaders and their people, then the same leaders with their respective disabilities.

Springwood is based on Nelson’s own screenplay for the 2012 film ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’, which had been observed to be good potentially for presentation on stage. After Stanley Tucci withdrew as director (too busy) Nelson stepped in. Given his own history of directing his own plays as well as writing interconnected family-cycle plays, this was a sound decision. His ensemble-naturalism background suits this material which could easily become a soap opera in the wrong hands.

It’s a strong ten-person cast, with Robert Lindsay and Jemma Redgrave secure in their roles as the President and Eleanor. To my mind, however, Andrew Havill as King George (‘Bertie’) gives the outstanding performance. There were moments when one could swear King Charles had taken on the part, so good was his characterisation. The slight physical awkwardness, the whisper of Bertie’s ever-present but mostly hidden stutter, the sense of someone who really understands the symbolism of the hot dog moment, unlike his wife (Rebecca Night) to whom this has to be carefully explained by Eleanor.

The creative team have chosen to set the play ‘in the round’ with a dark black background into which the figures melt. This enables us to focus on the conversations which are at the core of the work. Scene changes are punctuated by the actors moving brown furniture round. Rather strangely the play opens with all the characters onstage breaking up and then rearranging the set.

But then this is the main action and without it we might find the play a little static. It is a subtle piece important to pay as much attention to what is not being said – and when – as to what is outspoken. Oft-repeated is ‘the walls are very thin’ and somehow this becomes a mantra for the unsaid and the overheard in people’s lives. And there are also many moments of laugh-out-loud humour . Bertie’s outburst when his wife accuses him of being like his brother, when he threatens to shove hot dogs ‘up his nostrils and in his ears’ as well as in his mouth is a comedy gem.

Devotees of Hampstead Theatre will enjoy the wordiness, the history and the focus on what is revealed in conversation. It might not play as well in a less literary world or among people less interested in the history of diplomatic relations between the US and the UK. This is a sturdy bio-drama from a master in connecting the past to the present, which it undoubtedly does

Tag Archives: Rachel Pickup

STILL LIFE

★★★★

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

STILL LIFE

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

★★★★

“A bittersweet tale succinctly expressed and elegantly performed”