Review of Brief Encounter at the Empire Cinema Haymarket
https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198074/review-brief-encounter-empire-cinema-haymarket/ Jim Sturgeon as Alec & Isabel Pollen as Laura in Brief Encounter, credit Steve Tanner Britain in 1938 was very different to how it is now. For the second time in most people’s lives, war was once again a strong possibility. Everyone dreamed of settling down into a strong stable marriage. Divorce was not something that society approved of – it was only two years previously that the King had had to abdicate for wanting to marry an American divorcee. This is a Britain where the middle classes are responsible for the moral backbone of the nation. This the Britain with Brief Encounter at the Empire Cinema in London’s West End. A railway station refreshment room is the unlikely setting for romance to spring. Though this is no ordinary refreshment room as it seems to be a magical place with a direct line to cupid and his bow. Presided over by Myrtle Bagot (Lucy Thackeray) a rather...