Rattigan’s last play is fascinating – fresh and witty, it positively bowls along in the new production under Thea Sharrock’s direction at the Old Vic. Originally conceived as a play for the wireless and then expanded for the stage, it works seamlessly and has no longeurs. Based on a true court case of the 1930s that “reeked of sex”, as one contemporary wrote, the mixture of fact and fiction gives it true emotional depth – the reflections and change of heart of the fictional character, Edith Davenport, forming the real focus of the play. It is shot through with perceptive riffs on contemporary morality and double standards and the cast, universally out-standing, are pitch-perfect in their playing of it. Anne-Marie Duff is truly moving in the difficult role of Alma Rattenbury, accused of being an accessory in the bludgeoning of her older husband to death by her teenage lover. Aided by Rattigan’s subtle script she manages to convey a woman whose easy charm and enjoyment of life made her, despite her rather lax observance of contemporary mores, extremely attractive at many different levels to most of the people she came in contact with, though not the general public at large, who were horrified (perhaps tinged with not a little envy) by her story. Niamh Cusack is also wonderful as the conflicted Mrs. Davenport, whose own marriage is unravelling and whose son, Tony, sensitively played by Freddie Fox, is turning from a boy into a man. The legal team have by far the wittiest lines in the play and show the cynicism of the profession and also how important it is to have good council when your life is at stake – Nicholas Jones stands out as the most cynical.

All in all, it’s a spanking good evening at the theatre and a timely revival in Rattigan’s centenary year.