Review: It Happened To Me, Old Red Lion Theatre  

Recently admitted into the Betty Ford rehab centre, former Rat Pack star Peter Lawford (Jonathan Hansler) seems largely upbeat about his life. He’s full of jokes about the circumstances that have led to him being tricked into addressing his addictions, but as he tells anecdotes about his life it quickly becomes apparent that many of them are filled with regrets and he’s far more damaged than he’d care to admit. 
 
Spending time in his company is at first a real pleasure even if his throwaway comments about his and his son’s cocaine use are clearly laced with a tragic element. There are amusing stories of how he fell in love with acting and got his first role as a young child, of the bittersweet relationship he had with his mother, and more positive descriptions of his father and the bond they shared. 
 
Yet quite early on in his career rather than discussing his successes (there’s no mention of the box office hit Son of Lassie for instance), he seems largely frustrated by the roles he turned down. This includes a story about Albert R. Broccoli approaching him about starring as James Bond two years before Sean Connery accepted the role, which he snubbed as he thought the script was weak and the character would never take off. And even when he mentions the memorable films he appeared in, like 1954’s It Should Happen to You, it’s tinged with sadness as co-star and former lover Judy Holiday died so young. 
 
A third of the way through this hour-long play, references to his films largely fall away and it focuses on his love life, including his marriage to Patty Kennedy, and the relationships he had with her far more famous brothers John F. and Bobby Kennedy. He questions if he should have introduced Marilyn Monroe to the group, while quickly refuting the suggestion that he was in any way involved with her tragic death, before it leaps in to a segment where he’s confused as to why his time in Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack came to a sudden and abrupt end. 
 
Hansler makes Lawford seem increasingly sympathetic even if his actions have at times been misguided, and it’s generally a superb performance. But the play does have a few minor problems, especially when it comes to discussing Lawford’s sexuality, as it spends a lot of the time bragging about who he did sleep with, before suddenly suggesting he may have been gay, and that his sexual peccadilloes were quite unusual. 
 
It’s an issue as this latter part is all based on rumour and conjecture from the gossip columns of the period, and there’s no credible source to back them up. Worse still is that there are other factual inaccuracies, including Lawford complaining about coming up with the idea for Ocean’s 11 but Sinatra not allowing him to act in it, when in fact he did have a sizeable role. It makes the title It Happened To Me somewhat questionable, especially as it’s never indicated that Lawford’s memories are possibly muddled or deliberately misleading. 
 
Otherwise there’s a great deal to admire about the play. Hansler captures Lawford’s charm and wry sense of humour, and while the occasional line is stumbled over, it’s a performance that captivated for the entire hour. The script is sharp, there’s some amusing audio only cameos, and its bursting with intriguing anecdotes. I just wish I knew whether they all actually happened to Peter Lawford or not. 

Written by: Peter Briffa
Directed by: Owain Rose

It Happened To Me runs at the Old Red Lion until Saturday 20 December.