A Letter of Resignation
From 15th September 2003
To 20th September 2003
by
Hugh Whitemore
Description
The War Minister had an affair with a call girl, the call girl had an affair
with a Russian spy, the Russian spy was set up by MI5 and nobody told the Prime
Minister. 1963 was an amazing year: President Kennedy's assassination; The Great
Train Robbery; Beatle mania; The Profumo Affair.
Life was changing. Britain was becoming a different place. To many people, Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister, seemed outdated and irrelevant - an Edwardian grandee lingering uncomfortably in the world of E-type Jaguars, Carnaby Street and That Was The Week That Was.
But few were aware that his life was scarred by domestic unhappiness and sexual betrayal. A Letter Of Resignation explores the events that lay hidden behind the headlines and examines a complex web of personal and political morality. Hugh Whitemore blends fact and fiction to give a fascinating glimpse into the private life of a public figure showing the sensitivity and nobility of Macmillan that only a few contemporaries would have guessed at.
The Nonentities in the Studio (A)
Directors Notes
The Writer Hugh Whitemore appears to specialize in blending fact with fiction to weave an intriguing story . The Nonentities have previously performed three of his plays.
“Stevie” (The Poet Stevie Smith) “Pack of Lies”(Helen & Peter Kroger the Russian Spies & for the gardeners amongst you the family of Gay Search) and “Breaking The Code” (AIan Turin who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma code)
The Bibliography with the script of the play suggests that he thoroughly researches the characters of whom he writes, nevertheless he says “A Letter of Resignation is a work of fiction, Harold Macmillan was told of Mr Profumo’s resignation by telephone and not by emissaries from London. Widdowes, Ritchie and Mrs Brennan are invented characters. Nevertheless the main events described and discussed actually happened and are fully documented.”