The Deep Blue Sea

Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece contains one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama.

Helen McCrory and director Carrie Cracknell reunite following the acclaimed Medea in 2014.

A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952.

When Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion.

Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing.

Performed 1 June — 21 September 2016 in the Lyttelton Theatre.