Patrick Hamilton enjoys an ambiguous position in the pantheon of twentieth-century English letters. The author of two fantastically successful plays, ‘Rope’ and ‘Gaslight’ – the former made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, the latter revived last year at the Old Vic – Hamilton used his novels to chronicle the seedy twilight world of rootless drinkers and lowlife chancers.
The semi-autobiographical Hangover Square (1941) tells the deeply unpleasant tale of an alcoholic named George Harvey Bone and his infatuation with Netta Longdon, a callous small-time actress who exploits him for money while entertaining lovers under his nose. Given the subject matter, Fidelis Morgan’s stage adaptation doesn’t make for easy viewing. Via George’s drink-sodden consciousness, we enter a claustrophobic world of emotional torment and sexual frustration. For instance, when George finally persuades Netta to join him for a romantic break in Brighton, she goes to bed with someone else. Jilted George wakes up to be repeatedly told that Netta and her conquest have been thrown out of the hotel because their lovemaking was too noisy. It’s little details like this that make Hamilton a true poet of humiliation.
The Hamilton universe is perfectly captured in Gemma Fairlie’s well-acted production. With his air of perpetual bafflement and deeply ringed eyes, Matthew Flynn’s George is perversely attractive. The device of having two Nettas (Clare Calbraith and Caroline Faber), perhaps intended to suggest George’s schizophrenia or merely the double vision of the drunk, carries the narrative forward and provides an engaging visual enigma. Enlivened with deft period touches, it’s brilliantly accomplished – if unlikely to send you home with a song in your heart.
1 comment
This was a treat, such a brilliant venue, and clever adaptation, truly unique.