one4review | On 20, Aug 2023

Brought to us by The Company, a new play by Rowland D Hill gives a fresh take on the life of Sir Oswald and Lady Diana Mosely, a fairly sympathetic portrayal of the rise of the fascist leader before the second world war and his post-war legacy.

The play opens in 1961 at the Mosely residence in Orsay, France, where Mosely is contemplating his future amid calls for him to return to the UK and play a part in the shaping of post-war Europe. Flashback to 1931, we find Mosely in action in the House of Commons, becoming disillusioned with mainstream politics and about to form his British Union of Fascists political party. In his private life, we see him as a womaniser, marrying his first wife Cimmie for political gain, before settling down with his second wife, Diana Mitford, via a number of affairs. Although with close links to Hitler through Diana’s sister, Mosely does not believe that Germany will go to war. His idea of ‘draining the swamp’ is the reform of the parliamentary system in the UK, whereas Hitler’s is the extermination of the Jews. Mosely maintains that he is always trying to do things gently, not through violence, but his political career is ended when he is incarcerated in 1940. At the end, the play fast forwards to 2019, with a poignant reminder of Mosely’s lasting fascist legacy.

The cast are excellent, with assured performances by the play’s writer as Mosely, Tina Thomas as Lady Diana Mosely and Georgia Winters as Cimmie Mosely and others. Overall, this is a first-class piece of biographical theatre and a very enjoyable 80 minutes which I would recommend catching.

****

Reviewed by Howard
C Venues, C aquila – temple

Until 27th August