Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE (10 June 1911 – 30 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background. He wrote The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and Separate Tables (1954), among many others. A troubled homosexual who saw himself as an outsider, Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or a world of repression and reticence.
Classic: The Winslow Boy – many will have read this at school but it remains a favourite, (available on DVD).
Try this first: Deep Blue Sea – Rattigan’s works are not performed frequently at present so try any Rattigan plays that are put on near you but do try Deep Blue Sea if you can. There is a 2011 screen version of The Deep Blue Sea, directed by Terence Davies, starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston (available on DVD).
Biography: Michael Darlow: Terence Rattigan – The Man and His Work but also try The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch a BBC documentary on Rattigan’s life and career.
Find out more and join the Terence Rattigan Society HERE
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