THE ART OF CONCEALMENT Jermyn Street Theatre, SW1

Terence Rattigan was Britain’s most successful playwright over a twenty year period: from 1937 (when French without Tears was premiered) until 1956 (when the angry young men arrived at the Royal Court) and he suddenly, at the age of 45, found himself no longer in fashion and reviled. His works were notable for their understatement and restraint. He concealed the homosexuality of his stage characters by turning them into women. He had to be circumspect; the Lord Chamberlain would have banned the plays otherwise. Homosexuality was a crime and homosexuals were liable to be arrested. So he remained firmly in the closet (not even his mother knew he was gay) and he kept his young men under wraps. Giles Cole’s well-acted play looks back on his life with two of his lovers and two of his bitchiest and campest friends.