“Eleanor Roosevelt certainly makes an admirable subject for a dramatized life story. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Written and performed by Alison Skillbeck, this one-woman show is based on her exclusive access to the diaries of the woman who, as the spouse of FDR, became known as “the First Lady of the World”. Set in October 1942, the story focuses on her visit to wartime Britain, but there are flashbacks (and forwards) to provide glimpses of her life as a whole.

The show is very much in the traditional mould of worthy single-handed biographical shows about great women of history, which have been a prominent feature of Fringe drama for many years. These days, such productions largely appeal to a Boomer demographic, which was reflected in the nearly full house of which I was part in the Drawing Room: a medium-sized auditorium at the Assembly Rooms on George Street.

Skillbeck is a seasoned theatre performer who also has an impressive back catalogue of TV work, including many well-known shows ranging from Doctor Who to The Crown. On radio, she was even in The Archers for a while. As one might thus expect, her performance was engaging, thoroughly professional, and (becoming increasingly rare at the Fringe) audible.

Eleanor Roosevelt certainly makes an admirable subject for a dramatized life story. She was an extraordinarily energetic campaigner for a variety of causes, ranging from civil rights to child poverty and international diplomacy. Credited with defining the role of the First Lady in US politics, she nonetheless had more than her fair share of personal problems as FDR’s wife. Heartbroken by her philandering husband’s affair with her own social secretary, she soldiered on to support his political career, and helped to conceal the polio that crippled him physically and which could have rendered him unelectable in the eyes of the American public of the 1930s.

This, though, creates something of a problem. So eventful was Roosevelt’s life at the epicentre of world affairs, that her story – told in dramatic monologue – can too easily become a festival of name-dropping along with much box-ticking documentary of historical events. Whilst some of these drew murmurs of recognition from some members of the audience, it doesn’t create much in the way of visual theatre. Mobile as Skillbeck’s performance was, the ambience was very much that of a radio play.

Winning various awards in the past, this play is now on its third visit to the Fringe at Assembly. I’m sure there will continue to be an audience for shows of this type for some years to come, but is this style of leisurely-paced, low-tech production perhaps just beginning to feel a little dated? In her publicity, Skillbeck seeks an edge of contemporaneity by noting that the values Roosevelt upheld during her lifetime are under attack in our dangerous present-day world. That may be true, but I fear that this play’s undertone of rose-tinted nostalgic reminiscence offers little in response to such concerns.

Nonetheless, for those who like their drama cosy and informative, this is an agreeable enough way to spend an hour and fifteen minutes (a little longer than the typical Fringe show) on an Edinburgh morning. I dare say it will continue to draw good houses for the rest of its run throughout most of August.

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