Old Flames

Stephen Fry stars as a smug, self-satisfied lawyer in this black comedy-drama written by Simon Gray. Fry is reliable as a lovably pompous dimwit who meets an old boy from his school, played by Simon Callow, a man who is forever grimacing in an attempt to be endearing. Then mysterious things start to happen: another old boy from Fry's school goes mad, and then Fry seems to discover that many of his old school-friends have cracked up or died in mysterious circumstances. He fears revenge but he is not certain for what. The tale leads to an unexpected but satisfying conclusion. The cast are excellent, and the script, by Simon Gray (who wrote Cell Mates, the play Fry famously abandoned in panic)is funny and wry. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of emotional indifference, a subject Gray wrote about to such effect in "Otherwise Engaged." It's a minor work from him, but worth seeing if it ever emerges in the schedules.