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 Royal
Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Review by Holly Kenny
Despite it being a rain swept and blustery Manchester evening, there is
an expectant sell-out crowd, filled with famous faces from stage and
screen, at the Royal Exchange Theatre for Sarah Frankcom's eagerly
awaited revival of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour. Originally a
Broadway hit in 1934, the play is less famous than her later drama The
Little Foxes but it is regarded by critics as her best work.
The central theme of the play is still very much relevant today, the
need to lie to avoid unpleasant truths, and often the disastrous
consequences of doing so. Hellman herself when alive was accused of
being a fantasist by fellow writers and conducted a relationship with
the mysterious crime novelist Dashiell Hammett, elements which can be
detected in her work.
With a troubled and haunted girl who causes shocking chaos through lying
at its centre, the themes in The Children's Hour are reminiscent of the
recent cinema release Atonement
The play is about a young schoolgirl named Mary who is a compulsive
liar. Mary is oblivious to the effect her lies have on others and the
ultimate tragedy they cause.
Mary, brilliantly played by Kate O'Flynn, fascinates the audiences from
the very beginning, leading us to almost sympathise with her as she
reveals how her father passing away is haunting her. Mary becomes
increasingly angry throughout the play as she turns everybody against
her with her lies. The only person she feels she can trust is her
grandmother.
The childish and selfish Headmistress Lily does nothing to help Mary’s
confused behaviour. "You are not wearing that hat to church!" she
screams, and "You decided to take a walk, without my permission!" are
just two of her stern and petty admonishments. However we do warm to the
headmistress eventually after her colleague Miss Dobie reveals she is
struggling because she has left her home in London and she is missing
her friends and the lifestyle.
Throughout the play, characters that we initially feel little empathy
towards are revealed to have motives for their unreasonable behaviour.
Mary eventually runs away from school after struggling to make friends.
Once home, Mary feels she needs to come up with a reason for leaving
school. The pivotal moment of the play comes when she tells the fatal
lie to her concerned grandmother that her two teachers Miss Dobie and
Miss Wright have been having an affair. "I saw them kissing grandma",
claims Mary, also motivated by the fact this Miss Dobie and Miss Wright
refuse to believe anything she says and favour the better behaved
children in their class.
This lie creates great drama and suspense as we wait to see if Mary or
the teachers shall be rejected by the community. There is tension in the
theatre as we wait to see the outcome and a very dramatic twist to end
the play.
Overall the play is a fantastically entertaining affair, full of
surprises and brilliantly played out by all the actors. The only
downfall of the play was Mary's grandma's accent change from American to
English. After the applause died down, everyone filtered onto the
streets and the general consensus was that the play was well worth
braving a dark and wet Manchester night for.
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