11/06/2026
26 May 2026: The Deep Blue Sea, Rehearsal Diary #5:
Recently we have been concentrating on the wider community of the play: the inhabitants of a working-class boarding house in Ladbroke Grove, London. Today, of course, Ladbroke Grove has become rather fashionable, which is the inevitable fate of nearly every interesting working-class district. Artists move in because rents are cheap, then cafés appear selling coffee with emotional backstories, and eventually no one can afford to live there except doctors, lawyers, politicians, and those from I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
But in the 1950s, Rattigan’s world was still unmistakably lower middle-class and working-class, and English drama depends upon class distinctions with the same fervour that French cooking depends upon butter. One cannot simply say, “These people are British.” One must know precisely how British, and in what direction.
Mrs Elton, the concierge-landlady, Ann and Phillip Mitchell, and Mrs Miller all occupy this social world quite naturally. Hester, Sir William, Freddie, and Jackie decidedly do not. They are upper middle-class people who have, through passion and circumstance, drifted downward socially and geographically, ending up among people with whom they would ordinarily exchange only apologetic smiles at railway stations. This distinction matters enormously. English class is not merely economic; it is vocal, physical, architectural, and occasionally digestive.
Fortunately, we have a couple of actors from the UK in the cast, and they navigate this landscape instinctively, often helping the others with marvellous specificity. Rehearsals have consequently become littered with references to EastEnders, Coronation Street, Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, and, for reasons I no longer entirely understand, George Formby.
I myself have become rather obsessed and absurdly fond of George Formby. At one point I encouraged the actor playing Philip to channel a touch more Formby energy; by which I mean cheerful bewilderment mixed with the suspicion that trousers may at any moment fail structurally. The “urban little man” as Formby was called. I am also dangerously close to allowing snippets of “When I’m Cleaning Windows” or “Leaning on a Lamp-post” into rehearsal simply because they delight me. Both songs, naturally, were once considered scandalously improper, which is usually an excellent recommendation.
We shall see where all this leads. Theatre rehearsals are rather like cooking stews: one adds ingredients gradually and hopes not to poison anyone before opening night
Tony Knight, Director
🌊 The Deep Blue Sea
💙 12–27 June 2026
🎟️ Tickets at acthub.com.au
📸 Tony Knight ()
🔁 Repost from Chaika
