The Slaves of Solitude, Hampstead Theatre

'Have I shocked you? Have I bruised the delicate feelings of the English Miss? Miss Missed-her-chance. Miss Missed-her-man. Miss Prim. Miss Prude.'

Patrick Hamilton’s 1947 novel, The Slaves of Solitude, was once described by literary critic David Lodge as 'one of the best novels about the second world war’. Now, Nicholas Wright’s adaptation for Hampstead Theatre looks set to impress again.

Based in Henley-on-Thames towards the end of the Second World War, the play follows the lonely inhabitants of the Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house. Miss Roach, a woman of ‘threescore and ten, divided by two, plus a bit’, lives out her drab existence there, exiled from blitz-torn London and tormented by a domineering Mr Thwaites (Richard Tate). But things start to change for Miss Roach when she begins an affair with American Lieutenant Pike. Melancholy and surprisingly funny, The Slaves of Solitude charts one woman's quest to assert her individuality in a dark and fractured world.

Starring the excellent Fenella Woolgar (Victoria and Abdul and War and Peace) and directed by Jonathan Kent (Good People), the play’s refreshing focus on a strong female lead makes it one to watch this autumn.

Booking is open now.