Iris Murdoch is mentioned in this play and in many ways it is the equivalent of her so many fabricated novels; it drags on at great length with character after character wriggling their ways through improbable situations. So what if the Albion represented here is a ' Special Garden ' ? Who should really care if it is appropriated by a self-glory seeking woman who appears to conquer all before her ? Is this our UK of today ? If it is I feel more sorrow for it than I do already ? Plus the overlong comedy/tragedy of it all has an old fashioned theatricality about it worthy of the Haymarket Theatre in the 1950's. Take away the ' daring ' Lesbianism ending in failure ( of course ) and references to 'sensitive ' political issues and it would have played to packed houses with Diana Wynyard in the lead role. It is not a particularly interesting haul of nearly 3 hours but I give it a 4 for Victoria Hamilton who gives a fine performance. I also felt the rest of the cast were adequate but the characters were too numerous and the full on ' dramatic ' scenes with their tinges of Shakespeare and Chekhov too obvious. But many thanks to the BBC for showing it, and many viewers no doubt were beguiled by its ' relevance '. Any theatre seen is precious during these times, good or bad, and there is a certain sadness in seeing packed houses and recalling a time which after only a matter of months seems a lost world.
