Posting Letters to the Moon, June 12

THE promotional material for Posting Letters to the Moon promised a ‘fascinating historical insight’ through ‘touching and amusing’ wartime letters between Celia Johnson and her husband Peter Fleming – and it more than lived up to its billing.

The extracts from this intensely personal correspondence are brought to life in a very special way by their daughter, Lucy Fleming, and her own husband Simon Williams, both well known for their many appearances on stage, TV and film, with their readings illustrated throughout by poignant snapshots from family photo albums.

We heard about the couple’s very different experiences of living apart through the war years – Celia juggling domestic life and a busy acting career on the home front, whilst her intelligence officer husband, who later became a well-known travel writer, was away in India and the Far East working in military deception (his brother was Ian Fleming who created James Bond).

She wrote to him about managing a large household full of evacuated children and rationing, carrying out duties as an auxiliary policewoman, learning to drive a tractor, discovering the delights of surfing and becoming a film star.

He meanwhile writes from foreign places about his frustration with delays in receiving her letters, sadness at losing close colleagues and thoughts of home, especially his wife and young son.

We hear Celia’s feelings of guilt at contributing little to the war effort and even her doubts about her performance in the classic romantic drama Brief Encounter, which she began filming towards the end of the war.

Her concerns proved unfounded – she was nominated for an Oscar and the film, shown at the Palace Cinema in Devizes earlier in the day, remains one of the most iconic movies of the mid-20th century.

The exchanges reminded us of the hardships of war and the enduring strength of the human spirit to get though such adversity, which they did fortified by mutual encouragement, deep love and respect for each other.

We must thank Lucy, whose looks and voice strongly resemble her mother, and her family for sharing these treasured writings with us.

Jane Scorer