BALMORAL

by Michael Frayn

It is 1937. Britain is a Soviet Republic, the 1917 Russian Revolution having taken place here rather than in Russia. The erstwhile royal residence at Balmoral has become a State Home for Writers; among the current residents are Hugh Walpole, Warwick Deeping, Godfrey Winn and Enid Boyton…

Upon this entertaining premise, Michael Frayn has constructed a witty and ingenious farce which is plainly from the same stable as Noises Off.

Genres: Plays

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Michael Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy. His novels, such as Towards the End of the Morning, Headlong and Spies, have also been critical and commercial successes, making him one of the handful of writers in the English language to succeed in both drama and prose fiction. His works often raise philosophical questions in a humorous context. Frayn's wife is Claire Tomalin, the biographer and literary journalist.

Reviews

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a successful play. It was originally staged in 1978 – it flopped; it was staged again, now entitled Liberty Hall, in 1980, after Michael Frayn had done major rewrites – it flopped; after further rewrites it was staged in 1987, returning to its original title, Balmoral – it flopped yet again. I would like to say it is a misunderstood masterpiece, but it doesn’t really work. Frayn has pinpointed one of the reasons for its failure, a clash between genre (farce) and the central conceit. Balmoral imagines that the Bolshevik Revolution occurred in Great Britain, not in Russia; now it is 1937 and the former royal residence of Balmoral has become a State Home for Writers. An official inspection is expected, but before the inspectors arrive a Russian journalist and his English guide turn up to interview Hugh Walpole; but Walpole dies and the others try and cover up the death (I won’t bother trying to explain why)...which leads to the farcical situations as one desperate deceit leads to another. But, as Frayn later pointed out, farce begins with normality or reality then pushes into a desperate absurdism as one ridiculous event leads to another...and as one mistake leads to another. Balmoral begins with fantasy, so the sense of reality made ridiculous is lost. Maybe it can be seen as a satire, but a satire on what? Soviet Stalinism? Then it should be set in the Soviet Union. Something to do with Great Britain? But what? There are some amusing situations, but overall it feels as though Frayn thought of a wonderful conceit but then didn’t know what to do with it.

[David]

This is a script for a play. It begins with the premise that Britain had a 1917 revolution, which apparently resulted in a Communistic system. The setting is a Scottish manor where a few writers are having a writing getaway. We see a worker doing a wide variet of tasks, while the writers act privileged.

However, the bulk of the play is a more traditional theater story. A foreign journalist comes to interview one of the writers, who at first can't be found. Then, while the journalist isn't around, the writer returns, but shortly thereafter dies. The others try to hide this from the journalist, and eventually recruit the worker to pretend to be the writer. Usual theater mix-ups.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little more than a tired sitcom for the stage. Frayn is really better than this.