Lesley Storm’s psychological thriller, which premiered in 1949, offers kleptomania and incest in a typical West End drawing-room drama of the period. Flora Robson, a hugely popular actress, who was very good at playing women at the end of their tether, got rave reviews and the production ran for 400 performances. Owen Holder, who played her son, said much later that she had not only transformed an ill-written character but had also transformed an ill-written play into something which resembled a work of art. Andy Brunskill’s revival in the round, well-acted though it is, can’t quite to do that.
A respectable middle class woman (Maggie Daniels), who loves her son more than her husband (Keith Chanter), steals a black chiffon nightdress from a London store and is arrested. She will have to appear in court on the eve of her son’s wedding. A psychiatrist explains to her that she did what she did because she couldn’t bear the idea of her son marrying and leaving home. If she tells the court how unhappy she is she might get off with a fine; if she doesn’t she will most certainly go to prison. It is what happened on the wedding day, after the judge’s ruling, which is really interesting; but Storm leaves it hanging in the air.