The Deep Blue Sea (play)

First edition (publ. Hamish Hamilton)

The Deep Blue Sea is a British stage play by Terence Rattigan from 1952. Rattigan based his story and characters in part on his secret relationship with Kenny Morgan, and the aftermath of the end of their relationship.[1][2] The play was first performed in London on 6 March 1952, directed by Frith Banbury, and won praise for actress Peggy Ashcroft, who co-starred with Kenneth More.[3] In the US, the Plymouth Theater staged the play in October 1952, with Margaret Sullavan.[4] The play with Sullavan subsequently transferred to Broadway, with its Broadway premiere on 5 November 1953, and running for 132 performances.

Prior to Rattigan's coding of his relationship with Morgan into the heterosexual relationship between Hester and Freddie, his first draft of the play more specifically treated the relationship between the lead characters as a homosexual relationship, and also hinted that the reason for the striking off of Miller, the ex-doctor in the play, from the medical register was Miller's homosexuality.[3][5]

  1. ^ Sinfield, Alan, Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Yale University Press (New Haven, Connecticut, US), ISBN 0-300-08102-2, p 160 (1999).
  2. ^ Lyn Gardner (26 May 2016). "Kenny Morgan review – tragic tale of Terence Rattigan's secret lover". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b Clifford A Ridley (30 March 1998). "'Deep Blue Sea' Revived With Blythe Danner". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  4. ^ Joseph P Lorenz (15 October 1952). "'The Deep Blue Sea' At the Plymouth". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  5. ^ Williams, Tony, 'Wanted for Murder: The Strange Case of Eric Portman', Chapter 10 from Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil, and Slime on Screen (Murray Pomerance, editor). State University of New York Press (Albany, New York, US), ISBN 0-7914-5940-3, p 166 (2004).