Julian Mitchell quotes Cyril Connelly’s Enemies of the People at the beginning of his published text: “The greater part of the ruling class, remain adolescent, school-minded, self-conscious, cowards, sentimental and, in the last analysis, homosexual.” Another Country premiered in 1987 and launched the careers of Rupert Everett and Kenneth Branagh. Mitchell takes his inspiration from the spy scandals involving Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Harold Philby and Anthony Blunt. It is a literate, witty and bitter attack on the public school, its ethos and petty rituals. Snobbery, hypocrisy and slyness are essential if a teenager is to survive in this hot-house environment and should he do anything wrong and is caught, then he must lie, cheat and blackmail his way out.
“You can’t beat a good public school for learning to conceal your true feelings,” says the flamboyant, intelligent, gay Guy (Rob Callender), who advertises his predilections. “What better cover for a secret agent than apparent total indiscretion?” His best friend is an articulate budding Marxist (Will Attenborough), a character based on John Cornfield, the poet killed in the Spanish Civil War. Julian Wadham has one of the best scenes as visiting writer, a famous conscientious objector, searching for the potential spies of the future. Some of the actors look a bit old to be still at school. Jeremy Herrin’s production gets better the longer it goes on.