The Deep Blue Sea by Sir Terence Rattigan.
Directed by Tony Knight. Assistant director and costumes Ylaria Rogers. Design by Michael Sparks. Art
works: Leigh Penton and Kerry Wode/ Lillian Vickery and John Vickery, Lighting
and Stage Management: Disa Swifte. Sound: Neville Pye. Composition: Paris
Sharkie. Properties and Medical Consultant: Yanina Clifton. Intimacy
Consultant: Jill Young. Rehearsal Prompter: Michael Cooper. Marketing Support:
Karina Hudson. Chaika Theatre. ACT HUB. June 12-27 2026
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Jenna Roberts is Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea |
I was unable to attend Chaika Theatre’s outstanding production of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea until the final night. It is too late for me to encourage all theatre lovers and theatre workers on or behind the stage to do whatever is necessary to see this remarkable performance. What I witnessed on the closing night was a Master Class in direction by Tony Knight and a Master Class in acting by Knight’s phenomenal cast. Chaika’s production of Rattigan’s drama of love, loss and the fragile soul, played in the intimacy of the ACT HUB theatre is a testament to the professional quality of the work that is staged at ACT HUB and its worthiness to be played on any professional stage. Sadly, the ephemeral nature of theatre must condemn a production as fine as Chaika’s The Deep Blue Sea to the catalogue of past programmes. For those unfortunate enough not to have seen Chaika’s rare production of The Deep Blue Sea, let me recount its virtue. If I wax too lyrical, it is to do this production justice.
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| Sol Mason is Freddie Page in "The Deep Blue Sea" |
There are three key elements that make up a production as excellent as Chaika’s The Deep Blue Sea. They are the playwright, the director and the cast. Playwright, Sir Terence Rattigan (1911-1977), wrote The Deep Blue Sea in 1952. Originally the two central characters were male and Rattigan’s play was partly autobiographical and explored the painful plight of two homosexual characters at a time when homosexuality was illegal between consenting males. Rattigan changed the central characters to be heterosexual and created the tormented vulnerable Hester Collyer (Jenna Roberts) and her lover the caddish, self-centred and troubled Freddie Page (Sol Mason).
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| Sol Mason (Freddie) and Jdnna Roberts (Hester) |
Rattigan’s play is a gift to the actor. His characters are skilfully drawn to reveal the complexity of human nature, honestly and with an eye that peels back the layers to expose the dreams, the fears, the hope and the despair. Even the minor characters are drawn in an ink that colours their character and makes them real. His text is rich in its passion and pragmatic in its common sense, scaling the heights of emotion and imbuing each character with an individuality that makes them appear absolutely real in their behaviour. It is not often that I see a production where the director and cast so completely embrace the playwright’s world and give it such vitality.
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| Jenna Roberts (Hester) and Michael Sparks (Sir William Collyer) |
Director Tony Knight elicits fully fleshed performances from main and supporting characters alike. Even the supporting actors in the rather dowdy boarding house that Hester is now living in with her lover Freddie give thoroughly distinctive characterizations under Knight’s precise and perceptive direction. His direction illuminates each character with a keen appreciation of Rattigan’s text and the fragile reality of human failing. Only the decision to play the action with audience on both sides seemed to detract from the play’s appropriate staging on a proscenium arch stage. It does offer an intimacy and an originality, but at times did lessen the clarity of the dialogue when actors played with their backs to the audience. This in no way detracted from the fact that every actor was totally immersed in their character but it did mean that Rattigan’s dialogue was occasionally too softly delivered in the more emotional moments of this searing drama.
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| Karen Vickery (Miller) and Jenna Roberts in The Deep Blue Sea |
It is a rare achievement that each actor is able to shine in his or her moment on the stage. It is the true accomplishment of ensemble acting. Kate Blackhurst is imposing as the landlady of the boarding house, simple but plain speaking although inclined to gossip. Jack Shanahan and Meaghan Stewart as married couple Philip and Ann Welch and tenants of the boarding house portray honest working-class Londoners who become involved in Hester’s failed suicide attempt. Blue Hyslop as Jackie Jackson is every bit the British lad and Freddie’s good friend and fellow RAF compatriot. By casting Karen Vickery as the de-registered medical practitioner and a Russian resident in England for the past thirty-eight years, Knight has made the fearsome Miller a more significant character in Hester’s eventual redemption and an angel of hope in Rattigan’s emotionally charged drama.
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| Jenna Roberts and Kate Blackhurst (Mrs. Elton) |
Newcomer to Canberra’s theatre scene, Sol Mason gives a caddish performance as the former air pilot, with whom Hester falls in love and leaves her wealthy, older husband, judge Sir William Collyer, played with British propriety and certain staidness by Michael Sparks. The frailty of the heart contrasts with his authority as a judge. Mason is the lost soul, desperately confronting his wartime trauma, unable to commit to his relationship with Hester, searching for a solution and resorting to alcohol to drink away his pain. Mason rouses our irritation with his treatment of Hester and his contribution to her attempted suicide at the beginning of the play. There is little regard for the consequence of his actions and Mason makes the most of arousing our anger at one moment and our pity at another.
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| Meaghan Stewart (Ann Welch) and Jack Shanahan (Philip Welch) |
At the very heart of Rattigan’s play is his protagonist, the tortured and vulnerable Hester Collyer, brilliantly portrayed in Chaika’s production by Jenna Roberts. In a play lasting two hours Roberts has very few moments off stage and charts her fragile hold on life with the aching pain of unrequited love and the tormenting fear of rejection. Her performance is terrifyingly real, heart-breakingly raw and our response is visceral as we watch her struggle through attempted suicide and the rejection of all help offered. This is a Hester who could command any professional stage in the English-speaking theatre. And yet, in spite of the pain and the despair and the tortured love, Rattigan gives Hester hope, administered with stern practicality by Miller (there is mystery in Vickery’s portrayal of a Russian immigrant), and we are left with Roberts on a couch, cleansed by catharsis and resolved, it seems, to find redemption in her talent for art. Rattigan reminds us that even in the most desperate of moments there is hope.
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| Blue Hyslop as Jackie Jackson in The Deep Blue Sea |
If Chaika’s production were being played on Shaftesbury Avenue, queues would line the street for tickets and Roberts would be nominated for an award. Sadly, Chaika’s season is too short. One might hope for a revival but for those fortunate enough to have seen Tony Knight’s production for Chaika, you have been fortunate enough to see a production of which Terence Rattigan would have been very proud.
Photos by Tony Knight
