Flare Path

by Terence Rattigan

Filmed as The Way to the Stars and set in the 1940s, Rattigan's famous play concerns Patricia's love for a film actor, despite her marriage to Flight-Lieutenant Teddy Graham. Going to the hotel to break with Teddy, followed by Peter, Pat encounters Doris, married to a Polish Count, who is one of two pilots not to return from a bombing raid. Hearing the Count's last letter, Pat realizes how much Teddy needs her, and gives Peter his dismissal.

Genres: Plays, Drama, World War II, Fiction

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan, CBE was a British dramatist. He was one of England's most popular mid twentieth century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background. He is known for such works as The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and Separate Tables (1954), among many others.

A troubled homosexual, who saw himself as an outsider, his plays "confronted issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships and adultery", and a world of repression and reticence.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rattigan uses a love triangle to get at the emotional effects and sacrifices of war. As usual, he evokes a very British blend of repression and understatement.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 3:

Flare Path is a play by Terence Rattigan, written in 1941 and first staged in 1942. Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command airbase during the Second World War, the story involves a love triangle between a pilot, his actress wife and a famous film star.
The title of the play refers to the flares that were used to light runways to allow planes to take off and land but the flare paths were also used by the Germans to target the RAF planes.
In writing the play, Terence Rattigan drew on his experiences as a tail gunner in the RAF Coastal Command.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very impressive. I disliked the two main characters from the beginning - both are weak and sulky - and I just couldn't get past that. There were some funny and sweet moments, but on the whole it just wasn't great.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An example of a play that can work better on the stage than the page. A love triangle - without any real demonstration of love, for this is England, moreover, it is Rattiganland - set in an Lincolnshire hotel, during the war.

Peter is an aging movie-star (well, almost 40), who has returned to England to reclaim the love of Patricia, his one and only true love. She has married Teddy, recently; he is an RAF Flight Lieutenant, flying bombing raids over Germany. Also resident at the hotel are other members of Teddy's crew and their spouses, as well as the staff. Stand-out amongst them is, Doris, a former barmaid, now married to a Polish count.

As ever with Rattigan it is what is not said that is important and the reserve and understatement of the characters that adds to their poignancy - A Tale of Two Cities looms large and the ending is not much in doubt.

Perhaps not top drawer Rattigan, but with a fair wind behind it this can be a very moving piece of theatre.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some interesting moments and a sense of historical accuracy but ultimately, its nothing groundbreaking

[Ian McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rattigan’s play tells us a lot about the different kinds of love each couple feels - all quite different and all compelling. The courage of the men in Bomber Command shines through.

[charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

maybe a bit straightforward, but actually genuinely loved this.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on his own experiences in the RAF, this play, written in 1941 and first staged in 1942. Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command airbase during the Second World War, the story involves a love triangle between a pilot, his actress wife and a famous film star. It was his first successful serious drama and first commercial success since the mid-1930s. The title of the play refers to the flares that were used to light runways to allow planes to take off and land but the flare paths were also used by the Germans to target the RAF planes.
The play portrays the impact on three couples of the demands on the fliers who leave, perhaps never to return, and their wives and lovers who wait for their return. Of the three couples, one is a young sergeant whose working wife is visiting for the weekend. Another is a Polish emigre Count who has married a British bar maid so that he may join the fight against the Germans. And the third couple is a young Lieutenant who is facing his own demons and is unsure if he is a worthy mate for his wife, one Patricia Graham, an actress from London, who has something of her own to tell her husband Teddy, the bomber pilot. The situation is complicated when Peter Kyle, a Hollywood film star, arrives at the hotel, and Teddy is sent out on a night raid over Germany. Patricia is torn between a rekindled old flame and loyalty to the husband who relies on her for support. The tension mounts as the the night moves into morning and the fliers begin their return. Rattigan effectively ratchets the emotional tensions and the suspense upward until the climax.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a bad play, it's just not great either. All of the "stiff upper lip" sentiment seen in the wives rings true in a historical sense but it makes the relationships feel a bit cold, even the ones we're supposed to believe are very passionate and loving. Has some rather nice moments and definite historical significance, but it wasn't my favourite.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Pithee · Rating 2 out of 5]

BBC recording

[Daisy Leather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this play. funny and moving.