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The Review - THEATRE by WIEBKE TOEBLEMANN
Published: 17 October 2008

How Sir Stanley painted himself into a dark corner

REVIEW: STANLEY
Silk Street Theatre

THEY were all the familiar ideas – an eccentric and philandering painter, his suffering wife, the manipulative mistress and an overriding existential crisis.
These are the elements that make up a good story, but this is not fiction – it is the life of Stanley Spencer, the wayward genius of modern British painting.
The promising young actors of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama wear authentic 1930s costumes
and the softly illuminated stage placed in the centre of the auditorium offers a great view of their excellent performances.
The central question in Stanley is” “Why can’t I have two wives if that’s what I need?”
In 1932, Spencer becomes obsessed with glamorous artist Patricia Preece (Lauren O’Neil). He divorces his wife Hilda (Lois Jones) and marries Patricia four days later. But missing Hilda’s unconditional support, he then tries to make his ex-wife his mistress.
Spencer is extremely self-centred, self-loathing and feels essentially misunderstood. He is torn between the spiritual (Hilda) and the physical, manifested in Patricia, who ironically will not let him touch her as she just
married Spencer to provide for her lesbian lover, Dorothy Hepworth (Chloe Pirrie).
Slapstick humour alternates with violent outbreaks of emotion and sorrow in this production.
Some heavy-handed symbolism (Spencer pushing his art works in a pram) and scenes of lusty Spencer all over Patricia in her underwear keep the audience watching.
Brodie Ross, who plays Spencer, portrays the painter as clumsy, loud and foolish and lends him characteristics of Austin Powers.
If artist Stanley Spencer, who was knighted in 1959, had really been like that, his appeal to women would remain his greatest secret.
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