Glancing at its alluring poster, one could be forgiven for thinking that Accolade, a play written in the 1950s by Welsh playwright Emlyn Williams, is a rather cosy and sedate period drama – something which very much appeals to many of us, myself included.
However, the piece turns out to be much more than that, with a number of unexpected twists and turns guaranteed to capture the audience’s attention and leave them with plenty to think about.
Starring Ayden Callaghan as Will Trenting and Honeysuckle Weeks as Rona Trenting, the plot centres on the recently-knighted author Sir Will Trenting, who appears to have it all: a stellar career, a Nobel Prize and the perfect family.
But when a scandal from his secret past is threatened to be exposed, the harsh realities of success draws him and everyone he knows into a dark and chilling trial-by-media.
Despite being written three quarters of a century ago, the play has been described as “remarkably relevant” to the present day.
Ayden Callaghan, who is probably best known as Miles De Souza in Emmerdale, agrees.
Speaking to the Cambridge Independent from Windsor, a stop on the tour, he says: “It’s hard to believe that it was written 75 years ago; it almost feels like it could have been written today, based in 1950, if you like.
“The dialogue feels very sharp and immediate and, if anything, I think it probably has more relevance today – it feels probably more punchy today maybe than it did even in 1950. It’s a really interesting piece.
“You think it’s going to be one thing, and even when we did the first reading, you think it’s one type of play, you think you’re going to get this sort of period, drawing room drama – and then all of a sudden it just starts twisting you down one way and twisting another, and I think it’s very clever.
“Because of the themes, it feels like it almost demands judgement, but the play itself makes no judgement, the characters within the play make no judgement – it forces the audience to not only scrutinise these characters, but scrutinise themselves as well.
“It’s got echoes and shades of [Terence] Rattigan and at times it feels almost a bit Hitchcock-esque as well.”
Ayden notes that, despite its undulations, in essence the play “absolutely is” a period drama. “It’s set in 1950, these are characters who are of their time,” he observes.
“My character William Trenting and his wife are certainly eccentric and oddities, and certainly Will is a non-conformist so whilst he is a man in that time, he’s probably less of that time.
“And there’ll be parallels drawn, I’m sure, to many people over the course of the 75 years right up until the modern day…
“I think it’s a play about the imperfection of genius and how self-destruction and genius often go hand-in-hand, and about how that affects the people closest to that person.
“What is like to live with a genius? Be friends with a genius? To love a genius? And to have to deal with everything that comes along with that, including the negative aspects.”
Ayden adds: “I think it’s far from sedate – I think it’s probably a thriller, actually, and the audiences, people have come up and spoken to us and talked about how punchy it is, how engaging and thrilling and unsettling the play is.
“Ian McKellen was in on press night and he just said ‘Gosh, it’s so punchy and unsettling and I still don’t really know how to feel about it’.
“The reactions, critically and from the audiences, are that I think it will run the gamut because it is that type of production, that I think we’re going to get every single reaction there is – from good, bad and everything in between.”
Accolade, which also features Sara Crowe and David Phelan in its cast, began its run at the Cambridge Arts Theatre yesterday (Tuesday) and is on until Saturday (22 June).
Tickets, priced £20-£40, are available from cambridgeartstheatre.com.
