Review: The Deep Blue Sea at Theatre Royal Haymarket

15 May

⭐⭐⭐ (Three Stars)

Lindsay Posner’s revival of The Deep Blue Sea at the Theatre Royal Haymarket is a skillfully staged and well-acted production, but one that ultimately struggles to justify its place in the 2025 theatrical calendar. Written and first performed in 1952, Terence Rattigan’s emotionally restrained drama about passion and despair feels like a time capsule from a bygone era.

The story opens with a shock: Hester (played with great sensitivity by Tamsin Greig) is discovered by her neighbours, passed out in the living room of her flat following an unsuccessful attempt to end her own life. From there, the play unfurls slowly, circling the reasons behind her despair. Most notably among these is the emotional indifference of her partner Freddie, a man who she left her affluent husband for before realising that he is not able reciprocate her feelings. Freddie forgot her birthday and his fading affections and absence led Hester to this act of desperation.

Greig is undoubtedly the heart of the production. She brings a raw honesty to Hester’s turmoil, while also unearthing flickers of wit in Rattigan’s script. It's a nuanced performance that reveals a woman caught between societal expectations and personal longing. Another highlight performance in the play is that of Finbar Lynch as Mr. Miller, Hester’s enigmatic neighbour. Once a doctor, now relegated to an “amateur physician” due to a mysterious incident in the past, his awkward but growing friendship with Hester becomes one of the more moving threads in the story.

Peter McKintosh’s set, a static and slightly dilapidated 1950s London flat, reinforces the play’s sense of stasis. The peeling wallpaper and patchy paintwork subtly speak to the economic decline of Hester and Freddie’s life. But the unchanging environment also contributes to the production’s slower pace.

While the play’s themes of unrequited love, emotional repression and class tension remain timeless in theory, this revival doesn’t make a convincing case for their urgency today. The script’s emotional reserve and clipped dialogues feel more like museum pieces, and the slow pacing does little to breathe fresh life into Rattigan’s work.

There is impressive acting, but the production struggles to bridge the gap between 1952 and 2025. I was left wondering not so much about the characters’ inner lives, but rather why this particular story was chosen to be retold now.

The Deep Blue Sea runs at Theatre Royal Haymarket until 21st June 2025.

Tickets are available here: https://ticketing.trh.co.uk/event/30441?date=2025-05