The Truth About Blayds ★★★★ Finborough Theatre | September 2 - 27, 2025


Best known for his Winnie-the-Pooh stories, A. A. Milne was also a prolific and popular playwright. During the 1920s, he wrote eighteen works for the theatre, and at one point had plays running in venues around the world. The Truth About Blayds premiered in 1921, and this current production marks the first time it has been staged in London since then. The play opens as Oliver Blayds celebrates his 90th birthday. A renowned Victorian poet who once socialised with the artistic elite of his time, he is the dominating patriarch of a devoted and dependent family. His son-in-law, William, serves as his secretary and is writing his biography. His unmarried daughter, Isobel, has sacrificed her life to care for him. The grandchildren, Septima and young Oliver, though frustrated by their grandfather’s control, enjoy the privileges his fame has afforded them. Everything changes when it becomes clear that Blayds may not be the great literary figure he was long believed to be. Milne uses this revelation not only to challenge the foundation of the family's reverence but also to reflect the broader post-World War I disillusionment with inherited values. Blayds represents those Victorian ideals of duty, empire, and even God "himself." It is a time when suddenly, all of these once-stable societal pillars appear open to question. The family’s varied responses to the unraveling of Blayds’ reputation serve as a compelling metaphor not only for the world after World War I, however. They can also be viewed as reflecting on today's social and political uncertainties, with institutions and belief systems that emerged after World War II being increasingly subject to skepticism. This is a production which features a superb ensemble, with each actor delivering a fully convincing performance. In the title role, William Gaunt captures the complexities of Oliver Blayds with quiet authority, while Karen Archer and Oliver Beamish are perfectly matched as the dim elder daughter Marion and her obsequious husband William. Lucy Jamieson and George Rowlands stand out as the clear-sighted and cynical third generation, Septima and Oliver, who are struggling to assert their independence from the overwhelming legacy of their grandfather. Catherine Cusack, as the intense and self-sacrificing Isobel, offers a nicely nuanced performance, and Rupert Wickham, as her long-lost love A. L. Royce, creates a steady and grounded presence. This is a first-rate revival of a rarely seen work and it not only evokes the atmosphere of a bygone era. It also thoughtfully invokes some of the moral dilemmas of contemporary life.

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Carla Joy Evans

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 118 Finborough Rd, London SW10 9ED, UK

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