Hugh Salmon’s Into Battle is about the class war fought out at Balliol College, Oxford, between the rich and privileged who had been to Eton, and those educated at other colleges who they called plebs. But even though this true-life feud was played out over a hundred years ago its Bullingdon Club references have direct links to the Eton Mess government of today, writes Michael Holland…
It opens with talk of Lloyd George introducing a People’s Budget to redistribute the wealth by taxing the incomes of the rich. A buzz of revolution was in the air and the aristocracy were scared.
Julian Grenfell was destined to inherit the family estate and become Lord Desborough, but he was not happy with his life being mapped out for him so wrote a book laying out his thoughts that sided with what the People’s Budget was trying to achieve, much to the annoyance of his younger brother Billy and mother who wanted the book destroyed rather than published.
At Balliol, two cliques formed, those that wanted to help the local poor with a boys’ club, and those in the Annandale Society who felt that they could do whatever they wished because they were rich, and because they were rich they could do what they wished at Balliol.
And this was where the feud between Keith Rae and Billy Grenfell began. Rae was committed to improving the lives of young boys at the club while Grenfell was committed to a life of hedonism and disturbing the college’s peace on regular occasions with his marauding gang of toffs.
Rae appealed to the Chaplain to have Grenfell sent down after a series of upsetting incidents involving vandalism and bullying, but he refused because Grenfell’s mother was one of the richest women in the land, and his father one of the most generous benefactors. Church people are Christian right up until money is involved or their position is at stake.
The first half seemed like a long list of information forced in under the guise of dialogue as scenes played out like the Famous Five Go To Oxford while channeling Blackadder. There was even a token Cockney character. I was not amused because the programme gave the stories of all the young men involved in the play, which was much more interesting than what I had seen so far.
At the interval, the couple on my left were discussing the benefits of their double-barrelled names. I despaired. On the other side was Sir Tim Rice, perhaps thinking how he could put this play to music. The writer then appeared and said to his Lordship, ‘It gets better in the second half’!
And, thankfully, it did. As news of war arrived so the young men went off to fight and the Gothic set became the battlefields of France.
It was here that Ellie Jones’ direction came to the fore and we all went over the top with her to an emotional end.
There is so much written about these people and the hostility between the main players, but Into Battle tried to tell it all and that was too much in the time permitted. For me, it has everything you need for a great TV series so we can really get to know the characters and what they’re about. Here we see two men despising each other for most of the play and then they magically become friends for the last few minutes.
Into Battle was good, there were some very good performances, but I so much wanted it to have been better.
Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, Greenwich SE10 until 31st October. Times: Tues – Sat 7.30pm; Sun 1pm & 5.30pm; Sat matinees 2.30pm. Admission: £29.50 – £34.50.
Booking: www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk
Photos: Mark Douet