The Deep Blue Sea

When you're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea can sometimes look very inviting, according to the heroine of Terence Rattigan's 1952 study of obsession and the destructive power of love.In this powerful drama of passion versus loyalty, Hester Collyer, the daughter of a clergyman and wife of a judge is foundering in the closing stages of a hopeless affair. Freddie Page, her lover, a handsome but shallow ex-Battle of Britain pilot, is out of his depth in their relationship, overwhelmed by the strength of an emotion he is incapable of reciprocating.Written in 1952 after the success of The Browning Version and The Winslow Boy, this new production is directed by Edward Hall and stars Greta Scacchi as Hester.Scacchi was last seen in the West End in Ferenc Molnar's Enter The Guardsman but is best known for her roles in films such as Presumed Innocent, White Mischief, Heat and Dust, Shattered, Jefferson in Paris and Emma. In 1996 she won an Emmy for the TV film Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.Scacchi is joined by Simon Williams as her husband and, as her younger lover, Dugald Bruce-Lockhart.