Recent Events

Birthday Dinner, Garrick Club
This year’s Birthday Dinner was hosted by Giles Cole at the Garrick Club on 1st June and attended by 47 members.  The guest of honour was the actor Robert Bathurst who gave a highly entertaining and informative after-dinner speech. 

AGM and The Line of Beauty

This year’s AGM was held at Terra Rossa, Islington and followed by a matinée performance of The Line of Beautybased on the novel by Alan Hollinghurst, adapted by Jack Holden and directed by Michael Grandage. The cast was headed by Jasper Talbot, Charles Edwards and Claudia Harrison.

A Visit to Harrow

On 18th September 12 members of the Society visited Harrow in the centenary year of Rattigan’s arrival at the school in 1925.  In the morning they were shown round The Park, Rattigan’s boarding house, by the current House Master Mr Benedict Shaw.  In the afternoon they were given a tour of the school, including Speech Room where Rattigan performed in Shakespeare plays, by Mrs Anne Hall-Williams.

In Praise of Love, Orange Tree Theatre

On 28th June 24 members of the Society saw Rattigan’s rarely performed In Praise of Love starring Claire Price and Dominic Rowan and directed by Amelia Sears at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond.  It was an extremely intense, powerful and moving production.  Supper at Bacco afterwards provided welcome comic relief!

Birthday Dinner, Savile Club

This year’s Birthday Dinner was hosted by John Gill at the Savile Club on 6th June and attended by 44 members.  The guest of honour and guest speaker was the actor and director Christopher Luscombe.  It was the Society’s first visit to the Savile Club which proved to be a delightful and extremely welcoming venue.

On 11^th January TRS members returned to what is fast becoming our favourite theatre, the Orange Tree, Richmond, for the highly successful and inventive production of Twelfth Night, directed by Tom Littler.  The production has won the Best Director/Staging Award in the recent 2025 OffWestEnd Awards.

This year’s New Year Drinks Party was held on 18^th January at the flat of TRS Chairman, Martin Amherst Lock.  Entertainment was provided by RADA alumni Ayesha Ostler and Jonathan Rubin who performed two duologues from The Winslow Boy.

On 14^th December a theatre trip was made to The Invention of Love at Hampstead Theatre.  The play was directed by Blanche McIntyre and starred Sir Simon Russell Beale as A E Housman.

This year’s AGM was held at Côte Brasserie, Cambridge and followed by a matinée performance of Summer 1954 comprising Separate Tables (Table Number Seven) and The Browning Version at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge.  The plays were directed by James Dacre and the casts were led by Siân Phillips, Lolita Chakrabarti and Nathaniel Parker.

On 4^th July TRS members had the opportunity to see the rarely performed Suite in Three Keys by Noël Coward which comprises A Song at Twilight, Shadows of the Evening and Come into the Garden, Maud.  The plays were directed by Tom Littler, Artistic Director, and performed by Emma Fielding, Tara Fitzgerald and Stephen Boxer.

This year’s Birthday Dinner was hosted by Gp Capt. Clive Montellier at the RAF Club, Piccadilly on 4^th June and attended by 40 members.  The guest of honour and guest speaker was Tom Littler, Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre.

On 1^st June 20 members of the Society attended a matinée performance of The Winslow Boy at RADA.  Dr Holly Hill, founder of the French Fund, presented the cast with a cheque after the performance when members were able to meet the actors and production team over tea and cakes.

On 18^th May TRS members attended a matinée performance of The Deep Blue Sea directed by Lindsay Posner and starring Tamsin Greig as Hester Collyer at the Theatre Royal, Bath.  The matinée was preceded by a visit to the Holburne Museum and followed by the opportunity to meet Oliver Chris, who played Freddie Page, over dinner afterwards.

Following the restoration of the Rattigan family memorial at Kensal Green Cemetery, the cost of which was paid for by £24,000 raised by Lucy Briers and a group of friends, a rededication ceremony was held at the cemetery on 12^th April.  The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Sir Terence Rattigan Charitable Trust and members of the TRS and led by President Sir David Suchet and Lucy Briers.

On 23^rd January TRS members attended a performance of Transgression – a gripping and thought-provoking play written by Society member Loretta Monaco.  It was performed at the White Bear Theatre, Kennington.