You would imagine that the Mitford sisters would be theatrical gold. One marries a fascist leader,one becomes infatuated with Hitler, one is a communist, one a novelist and one becomes a duchess. Unfortunately, this play about them became overwhelmed by the subject matter and lost momentum.
It was quite clear that many of the audience members knew the story, at least in its outline. I pitied those who were learning it for the first time.
Overall, it was interesting but not entertaining. I came away exhausted.
It tried to be a connoisseur's delight and I suspect that if you knew the story in advance, you might have stood a chance. I had some knowledge and I struggled to keep up. Part of the problem was that the sisters had a private language (a 'hon' meant, more or less, a 'good egg') and nicknames for one another which, spoken from a stage (Honks and Baud, Debo and Decca) could be confused. It meant I had to spend some time translating for myself (is Honks Nancy? No, Diana) rather than enjoying the action. Add this to the fact that young Debo (Deborah) and young Decca (Jessica) looked rather similar and old Nancy and old Honks weren't that different in appearance.
You could feel the the audience members concentrating. They didn't have time left over to actually engage with the performers.
You could feel the the audience members concentrating. They didn't have time left over to actually engage with the performers.
This wasn't helped by the fact that he play hopped backwards and forwards in time, from New York, Washington and San Francisco during the 1940s, to Swinbrook House, Oxfordshire in the 1930s, to Nancy’s home in Versailles in 1969.
But this was well signalled by titles on the backdrop. In fact, the lighting and staging were a triumph. And the actors worked hard and gave sterling performances.
The problem was the script (written by Amy Rosenthal). There was simply too much to get through in two hours. Five girls, three of whom mentioned two partners. Endless adventures. With all that material, they had to rattle through to get through it in two hours. This meant that some witty jokes were lost because they couldn’t pause after the punch line. Nor did the audience have any chance to digest what they had just been told. We had to work hard just to keep up.
It was quite clear that many of the audience members knew the story, at least in its outline. I pitied those who were learning it for the first time.
Overall, it was interesting but not entertaining. I came away exhausted.
I saw the matinee performance on Thursday 25th September 2025 at the Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne.
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