REVIEW: Hampstead Theatre- Drawing The Line

Howard Brenton’s historical political snapshot of the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan is thought-provoking, at times ironically funny and  emotional.

With the benefit of hindsight we can now judge the fudge made by the deeply thoughtful and honourable architect Judge Cyril Radcliffe as a political cop-out ; see him as he sees himself “ a patsy” , but that would be unfair.

Brenton digs deep into the psyche of India , into the machinations of not only the British Government but the power-hungry leaders of Muslims and Hindus – Nehru and Jinna; into the manipulative methods of the Viceroy Mountbatten and the dreadful minefield Radcliffe is increasingly drawn into.

Tom Beard is brilliant as  Radcliffe , the man with qualms but a mission and he is nowhere better than in his period of illness and near mental breakdown. He even thinks the Lord Krishna has willed him on to his final solution.

Paul Bazely  is an unctuous, angry Jinna, wild-eyed and passionate. Silas Carson is a smooth first PM of India, Nehru , entangled not only in his country’s future but also a deep love affair with the Viceroy’s wife.

Andrew Havill as Mountbatten is at once neutral and heavily intertwined in finding the right way out. They all acknowledge the future is one of death, hatred, and many many refugees .

But in their first addresses to their respective nations as leaders, both Nehru and Jinna see only the best for their people. It’s the final dishonest dissembling in a long period of double-dealing.

As someone says of Radcliffe “ Really? Have the British sent a fool ? Do they want to turn the  partition into a Gilbert and Sullivan opera ? “

Tim Hatley’s  design is all sepia stillness amid the outside tumult and the late Howard Davies directs with clarity and speed to make the complexities seem crystal clear to us.

Drawing the Line can be viewed at hampsteadtheatre.com till Sunday 19 April. Consider making a donation to keep theatre alive .