Flare Path

Duration:

1 hour, 30 minutes

First broadcast:

Sunday 05 June 2011

Listen at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011pmmr

Flare Path is a play by Terence Rattigan, written in 1941 and first staged in 1942. Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command airbase during the Second World War, the story involves a love triangle between a pilot, his actress wife and a famous film star.

The title of the play refers to the flares that were used to light runways to allow planes to take off and land but the flare paths were also used by the Germans to target the RAF planes.
In writing the play, Terence Rattigan drew on his experiences as a tail gunner in the RAF Coastal Command.

Cast

Peter Kyle ….. Rupert Penry Jones
Patricia Graham ….. Ruth Wilson
Teddy Graham ….. Rory Kinnear
Doris Skriczevinsky ….. Monica Dolan
Mrs Oakes ….. Una Stubbs
Count Skriczevinsky ….. Tom Goodman-Hill
Dusty Miller ….. Justin Salinger
Swanson ….. Julian Wadham
Percy ….. David Hartley
Maudie Miller ….. Kelly Shirley.

Exec Producer: Catherine Bailey
Directed by Jeremy Herrin (Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court) For Catherine Bailey Ltd

First broadcast in June 2011.