**** (4 stars)
“An impressive piece of writing”
A good show,well delivered, well presented, well acted. The audience was deeply appreciative – for me, it just went on a bit too long…
Insomniac, indefatigable worker, organiser, and champion of the underdog, wife and fifth cousin of president F D Roosevelt, human dynamo, chair of the United Nations Commission formed to draw up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and so much more, Elinor Roosevelt’s life motto might well have been what was a constant refrain throughout the show – “So much more to do”.
We first meet her towards the end of her life, at the time of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. A stand-off between Russia and the United States, it seemed for a few days that the world was on the brink of a war that could destroy it. “If only Mr Kennedy and Mr Khrushchev would talk to each other, maybe at my cottage”, she says – after all, they’ve met there before…
Looking back over her life, she wonders whether it has achieved anything…. Cue a fascinating excursion through her life, seen through the framework of a visit she made to the United Kingdom in 1942. America had joined the war and she flew across the Atlantic to represent her husband on a non-stop succession of conversations, meals both informal and exceedingly formal, with visits to everything from Buckingham Palace to a pig club. Everywhere she went she talked to people, spoke encouragingly of all she saw, did her best to boost morale in the UK and kept people at home informed and engaged by a constant stream of newspaper columns and letters.
Her memory could be called elephantine, as she tells us about the people in her past and her present, people she meets on occasions separated by many years, statesmen and royalty, those engaged in the fight with weapons and those who fight in other ways – workers [mostly women], both paid and unpaid, and even children. Her care and concern seem boundless – nothing is too small for her attention.
Alison Skilbeck has crafted this show well, with extensive use of Eleanor’s diaries and writings [and probably listened to a fair number of recordings of broadcasts, too]. She is very adept at creating instant portraits of the people she engages with – we particularly appreciate her portrayals of Elizabeth, Queen Consort of George VI [who became known as the Queen Mother after her husband’s death], and Queen Mary, George’s mother. We see Churchill [and Mrs Churchill] alongside many other statesmen, heads of government, factory workers, Women’s Voluntary Service and Land Army people, and many more.
The narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time, giving an increasingly broad picture of a woman who had a miserable start in life, a pretty horrific mother-in-law, and a definitely less than perfect husband. It’s good to know there were loving women in her life too – something probably less well known about Eleanor – one of whom was a major influence in enabling her to grow into being First Lady.
It’s an impressive piece of writing, and an equally impressive feat of acting. The production, direction and lighting are good – though I could wish there had been a lot less dry ice – I had to hold my hankie over my nose and mouth throughout the show. And, as I’ve said, it went on a bit too long for me…
At the end of the show, Eleanor is looking back, remembering the bombs that ended World War Two. “Truman had to bomb to end the war”, she said earlier in the show – but I couldn’t help thinking that all that had happened since then simply shows to serve that, no matter the size of the bomb you use, someone will build one bigger and more powerful: the arms race and the threats will simply go on and on. And for all the UN has achieved and still [hopefully] continues to do, the UN declaration of human rights is not taken seriously or adhered to by so many governments and nations around the world today.
Did Eleanor Roosevelt’s life achieve anything? I leave it to you to see the show and decide for yourself.Mrs Roosevelt flies to London, Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) for more information go to https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mrs-roosevelt-flies-to-london
ScotsGay Arts 