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Pack of Lies
By the acclaimed author of plays including "Breaking the Code" and "As You Desire Me."
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First published November 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 10, 2020
3M, 5F, one set.
This is a drama based on the uncovering of the Portland Spy Ring, in particular the Soviet spies known in England as Gordon Lonsdale and Peter and Helen Kroger. The play is more concerned with the effect that their unmasking has on their neighbours, Barbara and Bob Jackson, and their daughter, Julie, all three of who, at the beginning of the play, consider the Krogers their great friends.
Certainly, Whitemore does a convincing job of establishing this friendly relationship. Helen Kroger is brash, vivacious, fun-loving, sympathetic and gets away with this behaviour in a quiet middle-class London suburb by virtue of her being, or alleging that she is, Canadian. The end of the play allows for the possibility that her friendliness towards the retiring, conventional Barbara and her wouldn’t-say-boo-to-a-goose husband Bob is entirely genuine, perhaps because a spy needs people she can treat as and believe are friends. (Mind you, the ending also allows for an interpretation very much the opposite, and suggests Helen Kroger is a woman of incomparable cruelty.)
What Whitemore does equally well is show the process by which Barbara, in particular, is destroyed after a man from the ministry, Stewart, with guileless charm and the ruthlessness of unstated moral blackmail, persuades the Jacksons to allow his observers to use their house from which to watch the Krogers across the road. Barbara finds herself utterly disconcerted in front of Helen, appearing therefore to the unsuspecting Helen to be unwell and consequently eliciting effusively affectionate sympathy in what Barbara takes to be genuine loving friendliness. Thus the betrayer, Helen, is witnessing, unwittingly, the mental deterioration of a friend who has, without wanting to, become a betrayer herself.
Furthermore, Julie, who adores both her Auntie Helen and Uncle Peter, and from whom her parents keep the truth about what is going on, is shattered by the play’s dénouement.
Terrific piece of conventional theatre, emphasising the power of a good plot and providing, I would suggest, three villains - for does not Stewart, and the way he operates, contribute just as much as the Krogers to the tragedy that befalls Barbara? - Discuss.
This is a drama based on the uncovering of the Portland Spy Ring, in particular the Soviet spies known in England as Gordon Lonsdale and Peter and Helen Kroger. The play is more concerned with the effect that their unmasking has on their neighbours, Barbara and Bob Jackson, and their daughter, Julie, all three of who, at the beginning of the play, consider the Krogers their great friends.
Certainly, Whitemore does a convincing job of establishing this friendly relationship. Helen Kroger is brash, vivacious, fun-loving, sympathetic and gets away with this behaviour in a quiet middle-class London suburb by virtue of her being, or alleging that she is, Canadian. The end of the play allows for the possibility that her friendliness towards the retiring, conventional Barbara and her wouldn’t-say-boo-to-a-goose husband Bob is entirely genuine, perhaps because a spy needs people she can treat as and believe are friends. (Mind you, the ending also allows for an interpretation very much the opposite, and suggests Helen Kroger is a woman of incomparable cruelty.)
What Whitemore does equally well is show the process by which Barbara, in particular, is destroyed after a man from the ministry, Stewart, with guileless charm and the ruthlessness of unstated moral blackmail, persuades the Jacksons to allow his observers to use their house from which to watch the Krogers across the road. Barbara finds herself utterly disconcerted in front of Helen, appearing therefore to the unsuspecting Helen to be unwell and consequently eliciting effusively affectionate sympathy in what Barbara takes to be genuine loving friendliness. Thus the betrayer, Helen, is witnessing, unwittingly, the mental deterioration of a friend who has, without wanting to, become a betrayer herself.
Furthermore, Julie, who adores both her Auntie Helen and Uncle Peter, and from whom her parents keep the truth about what is going on, is shattered by the play’s dénouement.
Terrific piece of conventional theatre, emphasising the power of a good plot and providing, I would suggest, three villains - for does not Stewart, and the way he operates, contribute just as much as the Krogers to the tragedy that befalls Barbara? - Discuss.
October 9, 2018
I bought this play to read because it's showing at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London and the main part is played by Judi Dench's daughter, and I didn't trust the reviews. I'm glad I didn't go. The dialogue is turgid, all 'hello, how are you?' 'I'm fine, how are you?' and the extraordinary story of Russian spies living in Ruislip after the Second World War is told in the most dull and monotonous way. How this playwright is so honoured I don't understand.
February 18, 2023
Pretty good play. Very well-developed characters. Good relationships. Great monologues for the most part. Really good tense moments. A little dry and not a lot of action, and for that reason, I do think it's something of a misleading title.
February 3, 2022
A classic play, not about spies, really, but shining a light on betrayal on the human level; the clandestine communists and their unsuspecting neighbours and friends.
November 23, 2025
4.5 ⬆️
The Alfred Molina interpretation - even better
The Alfred Molina interpretation - even better
December 25, 2024
( Format : Audiobook )
"I don't care what she's done ...."
Set in England in the winter of 1960 - 1961., Barbara Jackson and her husban are close friends with the Canadian couple over the road, Helen and Peter Kroger. The Jacksons reluctantly allow a young officer to stay in their house through the day looking out for sightings, they were told, of a wanted man seen in there area but soon it becomes obvious that it is the Krogers who were being observed. Based on the Gordon Lonsdale capture, not only are the historic social settings well presented but also the emotional tension in the family.
A full cast, including Martin Jarvis as the man verified by Scotland Yardas having full authority to command their assistance, acted well and were recorded before a live audience, .A sad peek into an ordinary life destroyed by lies and secrets.
Recommended
"I don't care what she's done ...."
Set in England in the winter of 1960 - 1961., Barbara Jackson and her husban are close friends with the Canadian couple over the road, Helen and Peter Kroger. The Jacksons reluctantly allow a young officer to stay in their house through the day looking out for sightings, they were told, of a wanted man seen in there area but soon it becomes obvious that it is the Krogers who were being observed. Based on the Gordon Lonsdale capture, not only are the historic social settings well presented but also the emotional tension in the family.
A full cast, including Martin Jarvis as the man verified by Scotland Yardas having full authority to command their assistance, acted well and were recorded before a live audience, .A sad peek into an ordinary life destroyed by lies and secrets.
Recommended
October 15, 2013
This is a play I'm pretty sure I read when I was in high school because it's in a compilation of British Contemporary plays that I purchased in high school and read all of them, but...for the life of me, I couldn't remember the plot, so an audition for it is coming up, so I decided to re-read it. It is based on a true story about a family that lives across the street from an American couple who were spies for the Russians; though, of course, the family doesn't know that. An MI-5 officer enlists their home as help for looking for another man. Anyway, it's a spy thriller play...
I had circled a monologue by the lead character Barbara as one I apprently liked, and, it's still good, although, I had an uncanny ability in my high school years to think that it was okay to audition with monologues that were intended for 40 year old women. I even auditioned with an Aunt Dan monologue from Wallace Shawn's AUNT DAN AND LEMON for my audition for Cornish. I even mimed a cigarette...oh boy I was naively adorable...
Anyway, great roles for 40 somethings...and I may or may not audition, but...good enough...I sort of have a soft spot in my heart for British spy anything, so...I liked it...
I had circled a monologue by the lead character Barbara as one I apprently liked, and, it's still good, although, I had an uncanny ability in my high school years to think that it was okay to audition with monologues that were intended for 40 year old women. I even auditioned with an Aunt Dan monologue from Wallace Shawn's AUNT DAN AND LEMON for my audition for Cornish. I even mimed a cigarette...oh boy I was naively adorable...
Anyway, great roles for 40 somethings...and I may or may not audition, but...good enough...I sort of have a soft spot in my heart for British spy anything, so...I liked it...
January 21, 2011
Worked on at Malvern, immediately after Beyond Reasonable Doubt. Aka 'Lack of Pies'! Really fascinating stuff.
November 25, 2014
Meh. Too talky, not enough onstage action or tension. Interesting premise, but I didn't care enough about the relationship between the two women, which clearly became the central issue in the play.
May 21, 2015
I really wish I could've seen this play with Judi Dench and Michael Williams in the lead roles. It must have been amazing!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews