Cause Celebre

Cause Celebre

Cause Célèbre

Britain was a very different place in the 1930s, with the attitude and morals of the time much stricter than those we are used to today. And it is within this climate that we observe the events surrounding a murder, which saw a woman condemned for her relationships as much as her killing. Forty years after the events took place the resulting trial would be dramatised in the Terence Rattigan play “Cause Célèbre” and it is this production that will be appearing at the Old Vic Theatre in 2011 as Thea Sharrock directs what was Rattigan’s final piece of work.

The murder at the centre of proceedings is that of Francis Rattenbury and when the trial for his killer emerged, it was his wife Alma and her lover George Stoner who sat in the dock. In “Cause Célèbre” we witness how Alma is judged for this adulterous affair with a teenage boy as much as she is for the murder of her husband, whilst the jury forewoman Edith holds her fate in her hands. As a real life story, the show will be both shocking and compelling as the results of the trial lead to further condemnation and a surprising end.

Director Thea Sharrock is an interesting choice for director, having already directed the work of Rattigan with the National Theatre production of “After the Dance” that appeared on the Lyttelton stage of the Southbank venue in 2010. The first year of the new decade has been a busy one for Sharrock, having also directed Keira Knightley in her Laurence Olivier Award-nominated turn in “The Misanthrope” at the Comedy Theatre. She also directs the Theatre Royal Bath production of “Blithe Spirit” at the Apollo Theatre, whilst her previous credits include “The Emperor Jones” at the National Theatre and “A Voyage Around My Father” at the Donmar Warehouse.

“Cause Célèbre” will be marking the hundredth birthday of Rattigan when it appears at the Old Vic in 2011, with the play running during the day itself on 10th June. With “Cause Célèbre” being his final play before his death in 1977 this is a fitting choice and will provide audiences with a compelling insight into the Britain of a bygone age. Rattigan’s other credits include “After the Dance”, “Flare Path”, “Separate Tables” and “A Bequest to the Nation”.

Cause Célèbre makes its appearance at the Old Vic Theatre from Tuesday 29th March 2011 (previews from Thursday 17th March 2011) and continues to Saturday 11th June 2011.