Page "The Deep Blue Sea (play)" Paragraph 2

In creating the play, Rattigan was inspired by the suicide of a young ( male ) actor with whom he had some time previously had a relationship.

This has encouraged some commentators to speculate that the play is secretly about gay men.

This is not true — while the play is undoubtedly animated by Rattigan's lifelong homosexuality, and his experience of hidden " antisocial " passion, he still has written a very strong and vital part for a woman.

Peggy Ashcroft claimed to hate the part: " I feel I'm walking around the stage naked ".

Her comment serves to indicate how emotionally revealing, how unabashed, and unrepressed this play is.