Acting up
In the play Fram at the National Theatre, the late Sybil Thorndike is depicted as a caricature, a selfish West End star with a foul mouth and an empty head. Of all actresses, Dame Sybil was one of the most human and humane people one could ever wish to meet. In a climactic scene in the play, the actress is shown giving a harrowing monologue about desperate hunger turning her to cannibalism, then stalking off to a champagne supper because her speech was nothing but an act. The real Dame Sybil would have gone round with a collecting tin at the end of the play and then gone over to Downing Street and stood outside No. 10 with a banner.
Carolyn Pickles (Eglantyne Jebb), Clare Lawrence (Ruth Fry) and Sian Thomas (Sybil Thorndike) in Fram at the Olivier, National Theatre, London Photo: Tristram Kenton
I doubt if the ‘F’ word ever entered her head, much less formed part of her public utterance - perhaps the author has mistaken her for Coral Browne?
Alan Stockwell
Smarden
Ashford
Kent
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