THREE DAYS IN MAY Trafalgar Studios

In May 1940 Britain faced its worst crisis in 1,000 years: the very real possibility of defeat by Nazi Germany. Nobody knew, until long after the war was over, that there had ever been a moment when surrendering had been an option. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, and the former Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had tried to persuade the war cabinet to act on a French proposal and approach Hitler through Mussolini and sue for peace. They suggested offering to give up Malta, Gibraltar and an African colony by way of a sop. Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee and Arthur Greenwood wanted to fight on. It is salutary to think what would have happened if Churchill had not stood firm. There’s good material here for a TV docudrama and no doubt Ben Brown’s play will transfer to the small screen where it will have all the advantages of wartime archival footage; but, given the subject matter and what was at stake, it is just as gripping in this modest stage version. The acting – Warren Clarke (Churchill), Jeremy Clyde (Halifax) and Robert Demeger (Chamberlain) – is very persuasive.