OUTWARD BOUND Finborough Theatre

Britain in 1923 was still mourning the millions who had died in World War 1 and from Spanish flu. Sutton Vane’s morality play was a huge hit in London not least because it gave comfort to the bereaved. It succeeded in New York, too, and was filmed twice, firstly with Leslie Howard and then with John Garfield. Because of its religious subject matter, no theatre manager had wanted to stage it. Vane had to put up his own money to mount it initially at The Everyman in Hampstead. Set aboard an ocean liner, the passengers are dead and on their way to Heaven and Hell, which, according to Vane, is the same place. There is no captain, no crew, only a steward, called Scrubby, a 20th century Charon. The passengers, all travelling first class, include an outrageously snobbish socialite, a blustering crooked financier, a kindly charwoman, a drunken neurotic, a meek vicar and a young couple committing suicide. They meet their Examiner, a former bishop, (a role once played by Sidney Greenstreet), who passes judgment. The vicar is thrilled to find his pastoral role continues. Outward Bound, long forgotten, is now a curiosity; the idea is better than the execution which is somewhat glib and sentimental. Louise Hill’s revival, designed by Alex Marker, is shipshape, but the play, which is never as chilling and as moving as it ought to be, would be better if it were acted without any intervals.