UK Theatre Network

Christine Keeler? She’s that naked bird on that chair!

In 1963, the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, was forced to resign after it was established that he had lied to the House about the nature of his relationship with a young showgirl - Christine Keeler. She was also involved with a Russian attaché during her affair with Profumo. There was enough room for speculation that British military secrets could easily have passed from Profumo via Keeler to the Kremlin. The Secretary of State could also have been blackmailed. The ensuing scandal was in part responsible for the resignation of the Prime Minister Harold MacMillan and the suicide of the man who introduced Keeler to Profumo, Stephen Ward. Back then the story seemed symptomatic of a self-serving governing class who had lost touch with ordinary people. It was not only about what actually happened but also about what it represented. A topic that is also very relevant today.   

The show starts with Keeler aged 18 and a showgirl in London who sees her body as her only asset. She teams up with Stephen Ward, who moves among the rich and powerful, and shares his lodgings. Ward considers himself a sort of mentor but in reality he pimps Keeler to his men friends and makes her perform for them. Keeler gladly obliges. She now mixes with all the higher class of people in many different ways – including the Russian attaché Ivanov and Secretary of State for War Jack Profumo. When Keeler is raped by an intruder Ward is not sympathetic and Keeler finally parts ways with him. The affair with Profumo continues, however, but does not last more than a month.  

This production could have been much more because many of the issues are just as relevant today. The Profumo affair shook the fundament of Britain. The gravity of the situation cannot be understood by watching this show. We see a few hare brained girls letting themselves be used as sex toys by men with power and money. Ward is pimping them to his powerful friends just as Berlusconi has people who pimp underage girls to him at his Bunga Bunga parties. There are sex scandals concerning politicians and other celebrities in the paper every week. So the production is still true in this sense. However, the Profumo affair was more important than that because it happened in the middle of the Cold War, shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion. I would have expected the writer to go a bit deeper than he did. Yet, the play is of course based on Christine Keeler’s memoirs and describes the events from her own point of view. 

 Alice Coulthard is very good as Keeler who tries to become her own person after letting herself be used by men like Ward. Paul Nicholas is exceptional as the manipulating Ward.

Until 24 September 2011

Richmond Theatre
The Green
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1QJ

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0844 871 7651

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