specialknives

Losing Unity
by Hannah M Murphy
Etcetera Theatre Camden, London

I went to see this play because I'm a big fan of the novelist Nancy Mitford, eldest of the famously scandalous Mitford siblings. It focuses on the relationship between Jessica, a confirmed communist who married her black sheep cousin, and Unity, a badge-wearing fascist who became Hitler's girlfriend and shot herself in the head when WWII broke out.

Anything to do with the Mitfords is candy for those nostalgic for the in-and-around-London of an era they've never experienced - the 30s and 40s - and a class they've never identified with - high society, sweetie. That includes me - I love a good pair of Louis heels and some big band swing - but this play, despite being well acted, did leave me thinking, why bother? It didn't seem to me to say anything particularly meaningful, insightful or new about fascism, communism, women of the time, these particular women or anything much. The thrust of it could easily be summed up by its final line: "You joined one side and I joined the other."

Nancy Mitford wrote about her sisters and why they did what they did, particularly Jessica, through the characters in The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. So perhaps I have already contemplated what made the Mitfords so extraordinary, so different and so like each other, how outwardly they appeared confident and driven but really they formed their politics and their lives around men who gave nothing in return. Is this old hat? I'm sure it's not. Murphy’s play is not bad, but I'd recommend a 50p Nancy Mitford paperback over going out to Losing Unity on a December night that's capering round zero.