Single Spies

Went to the theatre tonight. Single Spies by Alan Bennett.  Two tales of soviet espionage. In the first half we had Guy Burgess in his awful Moscow flat (which reminded me a bit of my first bedsit) getting actress Coral Browne to order him a new suit from his London tailor. In the second half we had Anthony Blunt being buttonholed by the queen who may, or may not, have been aware at the time that he was the traitorous fourth man.

The dialogue was very sharp and very funny. I'm not sure that real people speak in a way as well written as these did, but the leads, Nigel Havers (who played both spies) and Diane Quick (who played Coral Browne and the Queen) did a splendid job in recreating the times and trying to give some insight into what makes people turn against their country. The answer, in both cases, seems to have been that it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time.

Comments

[Vandy Massey]

Saw this in Cambridge last night. Thoroughly enjoyable. Completely agree about the writing - superbly done.

[enjay 70]

I saw this last night in Milton Keynes Theatre and agree it was brilliant. i was lucky enough to see this play in 1988 at the National Theatre with Prunella Scales and (i think) Edward Fox. I thought Diana Quick and Nigel Havers were great, but Prunella Scales as 'HMQ' was absolutely stunning. She looked and sounded so much like her!