Cause Célèbre

Based on the true story of Alma Rattenbury, who, in 1935, went on trial with her eighteen-year-old lover for the murder of her husband. In the play, Terence Rattigan pits Alma against a formidable lady juror, whose own life offers a plangent counterpoint to the central tale of love, betrayal, guilt and obsession. Published in this edition alongside a major revival of the play at The Old Vic, London, Cause Célèbre was Rattigan's last play and was still running in the West End at the time of his death in 1977. It comes, like the other volumes in NHB's uniform edition of Rattigan's plays, with an authoritative introduction by Rattigan scholar Dan Rebellato. 'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' - Michael Billington