Famous names are thrown about like confetti
The legend of Tallulah Bankhead precedes this play; not so much the lives of Henry Willson and Billy Haines whose secrets are opened up for all to see in Michael McKeever’s The Code, writes Michael Holland.
The play opens in Haines’ luxurious Hollywood apartment with Bankhead (Tracie Bennett) talking of catching gonorrhoea from a top actor, and Haines (John Partridge) reminding her it was from another star… The scene is set for bitchy, straight-talking, shooting from the hip words that hurt.
The time is post-war when the House Committee on Un-American Activities focussed on the Hollywood film industry, seeking out communists but using the powers to ‘clean up’ what some in power thought of as ‘indecent and degenerate’. What that really meant was the LGBTQ+ community, who had been quite open but now had to close the doors on their closets or do what the studio bosses said and marry someone from the opposite sex.
Tallulah Bankhead, coming from a wealthy family, wasn’t bothered that the studios didn’t like her outrageous behaviour. She described herself as ‘ambisextrous’ and had many public affairs, but it was very different for gay men.
Billy Haines left his successful film career because he would not bow down to Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM who wanted him to deny his homosexuality. He became an eminent interior designer but now, with the government crackdown, he was planning to leave the town he once loved.
As they discuss the move, talent agent Henry Willson (Nick Blakely) and his latest find Chad Manford (Solomon Davy), call in for drinks. Willson notoriously ‘discovered’ beautiful young men and promised them stardom, while using them for his sexual wants. He tells Haines that ‘with a good face, a good director and 200 takes, anyone can be an actor’.
Now the room was full of suave and svelte gay men and an increasingly drunk Tallulah. Now the conversation heated up.
Famous names were thrown about like confetti and landed like concrete, big stars’ darkest secrets revealed – Names I won’t mention in print just in case…
As the drink flowed the revelations became more sordid. These – apparent – friends dug up dirt and flung it in each other’s faces. The young starlet, used as a ball in their game of verbal tennis, had to decide whether to sell his soul or not. It was a telling moment, and the set with the cracked Hollywoodland sign surrounding it now showed its relevance as we checked our programmes to see that it was Ethan Cheek who cleverly designed it.
The Code was that you had to play Hollywood’s game or get out. Sleep with who you want but don’t let the public know. It is about deciding if you want to rake in the dollars or hold on to your integrity. But you can’t have both.
For a wordy, one room play it is amazingly engrossing. I was mesmerised by the characters and their portrayals by actors who had to be at the top of their game.
Southwark Playhouse Elephant, 1 Dante Pl, London, SE11 4RX until 11th October.
Booking and full details: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-code/
