''Plague Over England'' is a play written by

Nicholas de Jongh Nicholas de Jongh is a British writer, theatre critic and playwright. He served as the senior drama critic of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1991 to 2009. Prior to that, he had worked for ''The Guardian'' for almost 20 years. In 2008, de Jongh ...

, based on a real-life incident when actor

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

was arrested for lewd behavior in 1953; it provides an insight into the changes in the lives of gay people over the last fifty years. It received universally positive reviews when it received its world premiere at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

in 2008, and subsequently transferred to the West End with an updated cast for a limited run.

Plot summary

On 21 October 1953,

was arrested in a public lavatory after being entrapped by a "pretty policeman". There followed a high-profile court case, reenacted in ''Plague Over England''.

Productions

The ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' critic Nicholas de Jongh's first play premiered at the

in February 2008, and transferred to the West End's

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 ...

in February 2009, with

Michael Feast Michael Feast (born 25 November 1946) is an English actor of stage and screen. Early life Feast was born in Brighton, and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Career He performed in the original 1968 London production of ''Hair ...

as Gielgud and

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is a British actress and author. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' film series, '' Calendar Girls'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' The Best Exotic Marigold ...

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

. The cast included: Michael Brown,

David Burt David Burt may refer to: * David Raitt Robertson Burt (1899–1983), Scottish zoologist * David Burt (cricketer) (1901–?), New Zealand cricketer * Dave Burt (born 1937), Australian rules footballer * David Burt (actor) (born 1953), British actor ...

, Simon Dutton, Steven Hansell,

Sam Heughan Sam Roland Heughan (; born 30 April 1980) is a Scottish actor, producer, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his starring role as Jamie Fraser in the Starz drama series '' Outlander'' (2014–present) for which he has won the People ...

, Hugh Ross and John Warnaby. It was directed by

Tamara Harvey Tamara Harvey is a British-based theatre director. Background Tamara Harvey was born in Botswana and grew up in Massachusetts and Brighton. She became co-artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon with Danie ...

Reception

The production received largely positive reviews, many particularly praising Imrie and Feast. However, despite rave reviews, the production closed two weeks early on 2 May 2009.

Critic quotes

*"...Michael Feast, who knew Gielgud personally, gives a beautifully deft tragi-comic performance as the great actor, at once unworldly, lecherous, self-mocking and full of fear...Celia Imrie offers a delicious double as a touchingly sympathetic Sybil Thorndike... bravo!" Charles Spencer, ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

''. *"Lively...arresting." Benedict Nightingale, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. *"Compelling...a terrific first play." ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

''. *"Bracing, moving and intelligent" ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

''.Shenton, Mark, ''Sunday Express'', 1 March 2009

References

External links

* * * {{cite news , url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/mar/01/theatre , title= Plague Over England, Finborough Theatre, London , newspaper=

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, first=Michael , last=Billington , authorlink=Michael Billington (critic) , date=1 March 2008 , accessdate=11 June 2017 2008 plays West End plays Plays based on real people Fringe theatre British plays LGBTQ-related plays