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 The Theatreguide.London Review

In March 2020 the covid-19 epidemic forced the closure of all British theatres. Some companies adapted by putting archive recordings of past productions online, others by streaming new shows, and various online archives preserve still more vintage productions. Even as things return to normal we continue to review the experience of watching live theatre onscreen.

Heartbreak House
BBC Play Of The Month 1977 and YouTube   January 2026

This production of George Bernard Shaw's 1920 satiric comedy was broadcast on the BBC's Play Of The Month in 1977. Though a bit hit-and-miss, a cast led by John Gielgud and Sian Phillips and the opportunity to see one of the least-frequently revived of Shaw's major plays make it well worth a couple of hours of your time.

The titular dwelling – as with much else in the play the label is at least partly ironic – is home to an eccentric family. The father (Gielgud) is a retired sea captain who treats the house as a ship under his absolute mastery even though his adult daughters played by Sian Phillips and Barbara Murray lovingly ignore him.

Though mature women they both radiate sufficient sexual energy to have every man they meet fall irresistibly in love, while Phillips' husband (Daniel Massey) has that effect on women.

Into this setting comes the sweet and innocent ingénue played here by Lesley-Anne Down, enamoured of Massey despite being engaged, for Dickensian family reasons, to a rich older man.

A few other characters wander in and out, but you get the set-up for a decorous and witty rom-com with overtones of social satire – and if you don't, there are passing allusions to The Importance Of Being Earnest to guide you.

You might also notice the vague scent of allegory in the air, with some of the characters practically wearing signs around their necks reading Innocent Victim, Useless Bourgeois, Evil Capitalist and the like, and the house itself a symbolic stand-in for Britain Today.

But no sooner does Shaw set up that expectation than he starts mischievously to demolish it.

However lost in fantasy the old captain may sometimes be, he sees and comments acidly on everything going on around him. His daughters and son-in-law know how silly and useless they may seem, though they can make an almost convincing argument that they serve a social function by doing it all with some style. Even the capitalist proves too complex and human to be a satisfying villain.

The biggest surprise is the young girl, who refuses to play the role of naïve victim and turns out to be the most clear-seeing and hard-edged of the lot.

And of course, being by Shaw, the play presents a lot of these revelations and surprises through talk – good discussions and debates that are both entertaining and dramatic, in the sense of moving the plot and characterisations forward.

Father- and son-in-law, starting from their shared disdain for the unstylish and unimaginative masses, find themselves discovering that a shared humanity forces them to feel more charity. And in stark terms Bertold Brecht could recognise, the ingénue patiently explains that sufficient money is the prerequisite for almost all the more valued things in life, especially for a woman.

Everything I've said so far is to be credited to the playwright. It is in this particular production that some flaws and weaknesses appear.

While there is no actor in the history of the world one would rather just listen to saying anything, and John Gielgud has the absolute power to make aphoristic witticisms sound almost as if they actually meant something, his character does not dominate the play as it should.

Part of that is inherent in a television staging. On stage the Captain is almost always present, if silent, but TV's inevitable reliance on close-ups and tight two-shots keeps him off-camera and out of our awareness for long stretches.

Elsewhere, some members of the otherwise excellent cast seem to have difficulty (or insufficient guidance from director Cedric Messina) in navigating the revelations and reversals to make their characters seem of a piece.

Most successful are Lesley-Anne Down and, and in the smaller roles of her father and the capitalist respectively, Richard Pearson and David Waller. Despite our being told he's irresistibly sexy (and despite his showing that in other plays on other stages) Daniel Massey never becomes real as a character.

Heartbreak House is, in the best Shavian tradition, a play of wit, intelligence and unexpected moments of heart. If this production doesn't do it the fullest of justice, it is still well worth seeing.

Gerald Berkowitz