Home at Seven - Claire Evans Interview

Marking the 50^th anniversary of the death of writer RC Sherriff (Journey’s End) with its first London revival since its 1950 West End premiere, Home at Seven is a psychological mystery following a man who returns home to find he’s been missing for 24 hours. As hard as he tries, he cannot recall the events of the missing day or explain away evidence that implicates him in a theft and murder. Set five years after the end of the Second World War when the people of Britain are recovering from six years of an altered norm, director Claire Evans’ interpretation explores themes of lost time and the lies we tell to keep up appearances and protect our sense of normalcy.

R C Sherriff lived in Elmbridge, and when he died in 1975, he bequeathed his home to Elmbridge Borough Council with instructions to use it to support arts and culture; following the run at the Tabard Theatre in London, the production will also tour four venues in the area with support from RC Sherriff Trust.

We caught up with director Claire Evans ahead of the run.

What can you tell me about Home at Seven?
It is a mystery drama written in 1950 by R C Sherriff and which starred Ralph Richardson in its West End run and, in the film, made two years later. The production I am directing is the first professional version in London since that original. There was a touring production in 1982 starring Arthur Lowe, but very sadly during the tour he suffered a stroke in his dressing room and died the next day.

Why do you feel now is the right time for the first London revival of this play?
The reason I am producing and directing Home at Sevenright now is because this year is the 50th anniversary of the death of R C Sherriff. I wanted to produce something other than Journey’s End, which has rather dominated his legacy, and came across Home at Seven. As a traditional mystery drama, it is in a very different style fromJourney’s End. What struck me when I first read it was that there was a resonance with our own time. The play takes place five years after the end of the Second World War when people were still very much adjusting to a new post-War normal. I thought it would be interesting to explore that navigation of a new norm with the recent experience of the pandemic still very fresh in all our minds. They are very different events, but both are collective national shocks that continue to play out.

How have you approached bringing your vision to the piece?
We are producing this piece as a celebration of the work of R C Sherriff, who enjoys particular prominence within the Surrey borough of Elmbridge and so it was important to me to respect the work and the era from which it came. Whenever I am working on a play, it is crucial to be able to look beyond the characters and the plot. I need to let the play release its secrets, the human story beneath the story. In the case of Home at Seven, I sensed from a first reading that behind the bare facts of the plot, there was the whole emotional weight and cost of the War hovering at its edge. We are all affected by the world events we happen to live through.
 
What is the biggest creative challenge you have faced in developing your version of the play?
Creatively the challenge is to be able to convey to the audience all the emotional subtext I sense lurking beneath the actual text.  We have tried to do that within the budget for a modest Fringe production, in part through choices in the design of the set and the music connecting the scenes. I have chosen to use Eric Coates’s  Langham Place (Elegy) from his 1936 London Again Suite, which includes references to the chimes of Big Ben and is a mournful piece. Eric Coates composed the theme to the Dam Busters film, for which Sherriff supplied the screenplay, and his music captures the post-war exuberance allied with the continuing sense of loss and dislocation.
 
How would you describe the style of the piece?
Home at Seven is a traditional mystery drama, set in a single location. I believe that it is more than that and hope to peel back the layers and reveal a piece that has something to say to us now.

Can you tell me an interesting fact about the piece/your production?
We will be using in the performances R C Sherriff’s own telephone, which had been rescued from his house when it was being sold. It has since been languishing safely in a cupboard at the office of the R C Sherriff Trust. The director of the Trust, Pete Allen, asked me whether I would be interested in the telephone for the set and I seized the opportunity. I think there is something rather special about having Sherriff’s phone as part of his play – almost as if we are connecting with him.
 
When did you know that you wanted to be a director?
After I left university clutching my English and Drama degree, I found myself working in the Civil Service, which had never been part of any plan. I joined the drama society of the DHSS and found the most extraordinary group of talented people. Directing had never been something that had been discussed during my degree course, but this group of people gave me confidence by asking me to direct for them.  I chose Arthur Miller’s All My Sons – rather a huge piece for a first-time director. 
Although that was the first time I was officially directing a production, I had been creating theatre from the age of 5 or 6 presenting shows performed by my cuddly toys at the foot of the stairs, choreographing dance routines in the playground at school and choreographing the school pantomime.  I have always been interested in telling stories creatively, and that is what a director does.
 
How did you approach following your passion in theatre?
I read English and Drama at University at the time when Drama was only just starting to be offered as a subject.  I have no family background in theatre and so breaking into this world was extremely challenging. But the main thing is that I never gave up. For some years I was trapped in jobs I didn’t want to do, but when I met my husband he insisted that I apply for anything so long as it was in the theatre. This led to roles in drama schools where I started to build that all important network. I became an agent and did that until I had my family. When I started to return to the industry as the children were growing older, I found I was able to reconnect with the people I had worked with when I was an agent. I started edging into directing via producing and started by providing other people with the opportunity to direct, working at the Finborough and the Union. In 2016 I was given the opportunity to direct for the Sidmouth Summer Play Festival which was a baptism of fire.  It is a 12 play, 12 week festival in old-style weekly repertory.  The plays have five hectic days to rehearse and then play for 6 performances, before the next play begins. It was invaluable experience, and I was fortunate enough to transfer some of the Sidmouth plays to other venues such as Windsor Theatre Royal and the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield. I am now both producing and directing my own choice of work and am now asked by other people to direct.
 
What was the first piece of theatre you saw that you remember having a big impact on you?
I have danced since I was three years old and so that was my route into the theatre. The first show my mother took me to see when I was about eleven at the old Derby Playhouse in Sacheveral Street was The Boyfriend. As soon as the curtain came down, I wanted to sit and watch it all over again.

What keeps you inspired?
Finding brilliant plays by brilliant writers. I most enjoy working on new and contemporary writing and recently worked on Emily Jenkins’s startling play Bobby and Amy. I enjoy working on plays that have something powerful to say and searching them out is what keeps me inspired.

What would you want someone to take away from seeing Home at Seven?
I would like them to have enjoyed watching a well-made play that has stood the test time and to take away an appreciation of how human beings cope with what life throws at them.

Where and when can audience see the show?
At the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick, currently celebrating its 40^th Anniversary, where we are on 2 – 20 September, Tues to Friday at 7.30 pm and Saturday at 6.00 pm. The R C Sherriff Trust has generously supported a short tour of venues in Elmbridge, Sherriff’s old stomping ground and the show can be seen at the Vera Fletcher Hall in Thames Ditton on 27 September, at the Barn Theatre in Molesey on 29 September, at the Riverhouse Barn in Walton on 1 and 2 October and at the Michael Frayn Theatre in Kingston on 3 October. All details on the Tabard Theatre and Vera Fletcher Hall websites.