⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emma Wilkinson Wright brings all four of the notorious Mitford Girls to life in this gripping one-woman production. There’s softly spoken Unity, the self-confessed fascist, Jew-hater and deep admirer of Hitler. Her sister Jessica is a strident communist who went off to fight fascism in the Spanish civil war. Gushing Diana conducts a public affair with the British fascist leader, Sir Oswald Mosley, to the humiliation of his ailing wife, Cimmie. Nancy, the celebrated author, comes across as cynical and worldly wise.
These extraordinary sisters were bound together by familial love, but divided by their own personal sibling rivalries and divided political allegiances. All of them had triumphs in their lives and all of them faced tragedy and suffering. Jessica’s Canadian Air Force husband died in the war, Unity shot herself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt when war broke out between her adored Adolf Hitler’s Germany and her own country. Diana was interned under wartime defence regulations and separated from her baby.
Switching effortlessly between characters merely by sitting, standing or changing position and tone of voice on the small stage, Ms Wright, shows how the Mitfords lived and loved… and hated in the turbulent 1930s. There are few props and no costume changes; she carries all the changes of character off by the strength of her acting alone.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by David Kerr
Venue 53 The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall
Till August 19th 2023
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