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Passion, wealth, family - The Forsyte Saga. Parts 1 and 2.

  • Writer: Ann Cee
    Ann Cee
  • 6 minutes ago
  • 2 min read
Fiona Hampton, Andy Rush and Company. Photo by Cam Harle.
Fiona Hampton, Andy Rush and Company. Photo by Cam Harle.

The Forsyte Saga, Part 1 and Part 2. Royal Shakespeare Company, The Swan Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon. Running until 10 January 2026. Directed by Josh Roche.

Review by Ann Cee

 

Does passion rule our lives?  Is love ever lasting?  Is it weakness or strength to remain in a loveless marriage?  Is it wrong to yearn for your one true love even after they've married someone else?


 Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan explore these intense and enduring human questions in their excellent, witty adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.


 Turn of the last century, stiff-upper-lips are seemingly insufficient to stifle the deepest instincts of some who feel they must possess another, regardless of the wishes of the other.  


The Forsyte Saga part 2. The Company. Photo by Cam Harle.
The Forsyte Saga part 2. The Company. Photo by Cam Harle.

The narrator (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) is young Fleur Forsyte who looks back on the intricate, unfolding webs of previous generations of her family.  She is flighty, beautiful and bright, as she begins to explore with us the encounters in the past that bring her to her present.  She seeks to understand her own character and her own yearnings and wonders how they are all wrapped up in the family rift that meant she had not known her cousins until they were all grown up. 


Fiona Hampton is the unhappy Irene Forsyte who marries young and whose passion for a dashing young architect (Andy Rush) burns inside despite her prim and distant outward persona.  All men seem drawn to Irene’s beauty, including her brooding husband (Joseph Millson) whose thwarted efforts to procure her love and her submission, lead to a string of events that bring deep hurt and enduring distrust throughout the family.


Flora Spencer-Longhurst. Photo by Cam Harle.
Flora Spencer-Longhurst. Photo by Cam Harle.

The Forsyte’s try to quell any scandal and their chief negotiator (Jamie Wilkes) steps out of the shadow of his own impropriety with a warm and steady charm to smooth the outward difficulties.  


The Forsyte’s are a large, wealthy family that enjoys sniping and dancing at regular sumptuous family parties, elegantly evoked with plush drapes and luxurious carpet. Its great fun, moving and deeply engrossing to watch events unfold.

Directed by Josh Roche, this might be one of the best plays you’ve seen this year.


 

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