Wikipedia

Terence Rattigan

Sir Terence Mervyn RattiganCBE(10 June 1911 – 30 November 1977) was a Britishdramatistand screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.[1]He wroteThe Winslow Boy(1946),The Browning Version(1948),The Deep Blue Sea(1952) andSeparate Tables(1954), among many others.

Sir
Terence Rattigan
CBE
Portrait of Rattigan byAllan Warren
Born(1911-06-10)10 June 1911
South Kensington,London, England
Died30 November 1977(1977-11-30)(aged 66)
Hamilton, Bermuda
Other namesTerence Mervyn Rattigan
OccupationPlaywright

A troubled homosexual who saw himself as an outsider,[2]Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or a world of repression and reticence.[3][2]

Early life

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Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 inSouth Kensington,[4]London, ofIrishextraction.[5]He had an elder brother, Brian. They were the grandsons of SirWilliam Henry Rattigan,a notable India-based jurist and later a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament forNorth-East Lanarkshire.His father was Frank RattiganCMG,a diplomat whose exploits included an affair with PrincessElisabeth of Romania(future consort of KingGeorge II of Greece) which resulted in her having an abortion.[1]The Royal House of Romania is considered to be the inspiration of Rattigan's playThe Sleeping Prince.[6]

Rattigan's birth certificate and his birth announcement inThe Timesindicate he was born on 9 June 1911. However, most reference books state that he was born the following day; Rattigan himself never publicly disputed this date. There is evidence suggesting that the date on the birth certificate is incorrect.[4]He was given no middle name, but he adopted the middle name "Mervyn" in early adulthood.[citation needed]

Education

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Rattigan was educated atSandroyd School[7]from 1920 to 1925, at the time based inCobham, Surrey(and now the home ofReed's School), andHarrow School.Rattigan played cricket for the Harrow First XI and scored 29 in theEton–Harrow matchin 1929.[8]He was a member of the Harrow SchoolOfficer Training Corpsand organised a mutiny, informing theDaily Express.Even more annoying to his headmaster,Cyril Norwood,was the telegram from the Eton OTC, "offering to march to his assistance".[9]He then went toTrinity College, Oxford.

Life and career

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Success as a playwright came early, with the comedyFrench Without Tearsin 1936, set in acrammer.This was inspired by a 1933 visit to a village calledMarxzellin theBlack Forest,where young English gentlemen went to learn German; his time briefly overlapped with his Harrow classmateJock Colville.[9]

Rattigan's determination to write a more serious play producedAfter the Dance(1939), a satirical social drama about the "bright young things"and their failure to politically engage. The outbreak of the Second World War scuppered any chances of a long run. Shortly before the war, Rattigan had written (together with Anthony Goldsmith) a satire about Nazi Germany,Follow My Leader;theLord Chamberlainrefused to license it on grounds of offence to a foreign country, but it was performed from January 1940.[10]

During the war, Rattigan served in theRoyal Air Forceas a tail gunner; his experiences helped inspireFlare Path.In 1943 Rattigan, then anRAFFlight Lieutenant, was posted to theRAF Film Production Unitto work onThe Way to the Stars(a substantial reworking and adaption for film ofFlare Path) andJourney Together.[11]

After the war, Rattigan alternated between comedies and dramas, establishing himself as a major playwright: the most successful of which wereThe Winslow Boy(1946),The Browning Version(1948),The Deep Blue Sea(1952), andSeparate Tables(1954).

Rattigan's belief in understated emotions and craftsmanship was deemed old fashioned and "pre-war" after the overnight success in 1956 ofJohn Osborne's playLook Back in Angerbegan the era ofkitchen sink dramasby the writers known as theAngry Young Men.Rattigan responded to this critical disfavour with some bitterness. His later plays—Ross,Man and Boy,In Praise of Love,andCause Célèbre—although showing no sign of any decline in his talent, are less well-known than his earlier works. Rattigan explained that he wrote his plays to please a symbolic playgoer, "Aunt Edna", someone from the well-off middle-class who had conventional tastes; his critics frequently used this character as the basis for belittling him.[12]"Aunt Edna" inspiredJoe Ortonto create "Edna Welthorpe", a mischievousalter egostirring up controversy about his own plays.[13]

Rattigan was homosexual,[14]with numerous lovers but no long-term partners, a possible exception being his "congenial companion... and occasional friend" Michael Franklin.[15]From 1944 to January 1947 he enjoyed a volatile affair with the politicianHenry "Chips" Channonwho detailed the relationship in his diary published posthumously in 2022.[16]

It has been claimed his work is essentially autobiographical, containing coded references to his sexuality, which was known by some in the theatrical world but not known to the public. There is some truth in this, but it risks being crudely reductive; for example, the repeated claim that Rattigan originally wroteThe Deep Blue Seaas a play about male lovers, turned at the last minute into a heterosexual play, may be unfounded,[17]though Rattigan said otherwise.[18]

On the other hand, for the Broadway staging ofSeparate Tables,he wrote an alternative version of the newspaper article in which Major Pollock's indiscretions are revealed to his fellow hotel guests; in this version, those whom the Major approached for sex were men rather than young women. However, Rattigan changed his mind about staging it, and the original version proceeded.[19][20]

Rattigan was fascinated with the life and character ofT. E. Lawrence.In 1960, he wrote a play calledRoss,based on Lawrence's exploits. Preparations were made to film it, andDirk Bogardeaccepted the role. However, it did not proceed because theRank Organisationwithdrew its support, not wishing to offendDavid LeanandSam Spiegel,who had started to filmLawrence of Arabia.Bogarde called Rank's decision "my bitterest disappointment". Also in 1960, a musical version ofFrench Without Tearswas staged asJoie de Vivre,with music byRobert StolzofWhite Horse Innfame. It starredDonald Sinden,lasted only four performances, and has never been revived.

Rattigan was diagnosed withleukaemiain 1962 but seemingly recovered two years later. He fell ill again in 1968. He disliked the so-called "Swinging London"of the 1960s and moved abroad, living inBermuda,where he lived off the proceeds from lucrative screenplays includingThe V.I.P.sandThe Yellow Rolls-Royce.For a time he was the highest-paid screenwriter in the world.[21]

In 1964, Rattigan wrote to the playwrightJoe Ortoncongratulating the latter on his very dark comedyEntertaining Mr Sloane,to which Rattigan had escortedVivien Leighin its first week. He had invested £3,000 in getting the play transferred to the West End. Although an unlikely champion of therisquéOrton, Rattigan recognised the younger man's talent and approved of what he considered a well-written piece of theatre. He also acknowledged in retrospect that, "in a way, I was not Orton's best sponsor. I'm a very unfashionable figure still, and I was then wildly unfashionable critically. My sponsorship rather put critics off, I think."[22]

Rattigan wasknightedin the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1971 for services to the theatre, being only the fourth playwright to be knighted in the 20th century (after SirW. S. Gilbertin 1907, SirArthur Wing Pineroin 1909 and SirNoël Cowardin 1970).[23]He had previously been appointed Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(CBE), in June 1958. He moved back to Britain, where he experienced a minor revival in his reputation before his death.[24]

Death

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Rattigan died inHamilton, Bermuda,frombone canceron 30 November 1977, aged 66. His cremated remains were deposited in the family vault atKensal Green Cemetery.[25]

Legacy

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In 1990, theBritish Libraryacquired Rattigan's papers consisting of 300 volumes of correspondence and papers relating to his prose and dramatic works.[26]

There was a revival ofThe Deep Blue Seain 1993, at theAlmeida Theatre,London, directed byKarel Reiszand starringPenelope Wilton.A string of successful revivals followed, includingThe Winslow Boyat theChichester Festival Theatrein 2001 (withDavid Rintoul,and subsequently on tour in 2002 withEdward Fox),Man and Boyat theDuchess Theatre,London, in 2005, withDavid Suchetas Gregor Antonescu, andIn Praise of Loveat Chichester, andSeparate Tablesat theRoyal Exchange, Manchester,in 2006. His play on the last days ofLord Nelson,A Bequest to the Nation,was revived onRadio 3forTrafalgar 200,starringJanet McTeeras Lady Hamilton,Kenneth Branaghas Nelson, andAmanda Rootas Lady Nelson.

Thea Sharrockdirected his rarely seenAfter the Dancein the summer of 2010 at London'sRoyal National Theatre.She directed a major new production of Rattigan's final and also rarely seen playCause CélèbreatThe Old Vicin March 2011 as part of The Terence Rattigan Centenary[27]year celebrations. As well as this,Trevor Nunnmarked the occasion with a West End revival ofFlare Pathat theTheatre Royal, Haymarket,between March and June 2011, starringSienna Miller,James PurefoyandSheridan Smith.[28]

In 2011, theBBCpresentedThe Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch,[2]a documentary on Rattigan's life and career presented by actorBenedict Cumberbatch,who, like Rattigan, attendedHarrow.

A new screen version ofThe Deep Blue Sea,directed byTerence Davies,was released in 2011, starringRachel WeiszandTom Hiddleston.[29]

Stage plays

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Television plays

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Radio plays

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Many of Rattigan's stage plays have been produced for radio by the BBC. The first play he wrote directly for radio wasCause Célèbre,broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 27 October 1975, based on the 1935 murder ofFrancis Rattenbury.

Film

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Filmed plays

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A number of Rattigan's plays have been filmed (he was the screenwriter or co-writer for all those made in his lifetime):

Original screenplays

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Terence Rattigan also wrote or co-wrote the following original screenplays:

Other screenwriting

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Rattigan wrote or co-wrote the following screenplays from existing material by other writers:

References

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  1. ^abGeoffrey Wansell.Terence Rattigan(London: Fourth Estate, 1995);ISBN978-1-85702-201-8
  2. ^abc"The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch".BBC Programmes.BBC. July 2011.Retrieved6 October2011.
  3. ^The Rattigan Enigma, byBenedict Cumberbatch,BBC TV[1]
  4. ^abWansell, p. 13.
  5. ^Sir Terence RattiganprofilePollard, Wendy.The Literary Encyclopedia.24 May 2005. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  6. ^"Carpathia-from Fictional Country to Nature Conservation"(PDF).www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro.Retrieved30 June2021.
  7. ^"Sandroyd School's list of Distinguished Alumni".Archived fromthe originalon 28 October 2010.
  8. ^"The Home of CricketArchive".cricketarchive.com.
  9. ^abJohn Colville,Footprints in Time,1976. Chapter 8, Two Faces.
  10. ^"A Topical Comedy",The Times,15 January 1940, p. 4.
  11. ^"Looking for Flying Officer Rattigan, Group Captain Clive Montellier RAF, 2013"(PDF).The Terence Rattigan Society.Retrieved3 November2021.
  12. ^"Sir Terence Rattigan",The Times,1 December 1977, p. 16.
  13. ^"Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) - A Tribute to Joe Orton".Edna Welthorpe (Mrs).
  14. ^Sinfield, Alan (1999).Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century.Yale University Press. p. 159.ISBN0-300-08102-2.
  15. ^Darlow, Michael:Terence Rattigan — The Man and His Work,London: Quartet Books, 2010, p. 440.
  16. ^"The Diaries of Chips Channon Vol 3".Penguin UK.Retrieved8 September2022.
  17. ^B.A. Young mentions a "Kenneth Morgan version" of the play that was supposedly shown to Rattigan collaborator Alvin Rakoff in 1962 and that has since disappeared (Young, B.A.:The Rattigan Version,London: Hamish Hamilton, 1986, p. 110). Darlow also speculates on the possible existence of such a draft (Darlow, Michael:Terence Rattigan – The Man and His Work,London: Quartet Books, 2010, p. 440).
  18. ^Rattigan's letter to John Osborne, 1968 cited in John OsborneLooking Back,London: Faber, 1999, p. 286 (originally published inAlmost a Gentleman,Faber, 1991).
  19. ^Cavendish, Dominic (9 April 2006)."On the road: Separate Tables, Love's Labour's Lost, The School for Scandal".The Daily Telegraph.
  20. ^"London Premiere for Gay Version of Rattigan's Separate Tables - Playbill".Playbill.23 March 1998.
  21. ^Thorpe, Vanessa (20 August 2011)."Film of The Deep Blue Sea returns playwright Terence Rattigan to the spotlight".The Guardian.
  22. ^Lahr, John (1978)Prick Up Your Ears; The Biography of Joe Orton.New York: Knopf.
  23. ^Wansell, p. 364.
  24. ^"BFI Screenonline: Rattigan, Terence (1911-1977) Biography".screenonline.org.uk.Retrieved19 November2022.
  25. ^Wilson, Scott.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons,3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 38781-38782). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  26. ^Rattigan Papers,archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 26 May 2020
  27. ^"terencerattigan".terencerattigan.
  28. ^"Trevor Nunn Season 2011 – 2012".Theatre Royal Haymarket.
  29. ^"The Deep Blue Sea: In Cinemas Now".Film4.Retrieved27 November2011.

Further reading

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  • Hill, Holly:A Critical Analysis of the Plays of Terence Rattigan;doctoral dissertation, New York University, 1977;
  • Darlow, Michael; Hobson, Gillian:Terence Rattigan – The Man & His Work;London: Quartet Books, 1979 (2010);
  • Rusinko, Susan:Terence Rattigan;Boston: Twayne, 1983;
  • Young, B. A.:The Rattigan Version – The Theatre of Character;London: Hamish Hamilton, 1986;
  • Wansell, Geoffrey:Terence Rattigan – A Biography;London: Fourth Estate Limited, 1995 (2009);
  • Bertolini, John A.:The Case for Terence Rattigan, Playwright;Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Wolfe, Peter.Terence Rattigan: The Playwright as Battlefield.Lexington, 2019.

Other works including discussions on Rattigan's theatre:

  • O’Connor, Sean:Straight Acting – Popular Gay Drama from Wilde to Rattigan,London: Cassell, 1998;
  • Shellard, Dominic:British Theatre Since the War,New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1999;
  • Innes, Christopher:Modern British Drama 1890–1990,2nd Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002/2009;
  • Billington, Michael:The State of the Nation,London: Faber, 2008
  • Rebellato, Dan:1956 and All That – The Making of Modern British Drama,London: Routledge, 1999/2006.
    • See also Dan Rebellato's extensive Introductions to the more recent Nick Hern Books Editions of Rattigan's major plays.
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