By Lucy Komisar.
This biopic, written and performed by the masterful and accomplished British actress Alison Skilbeck at the Edinburgh Fringe, tells the story of the extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt. To keep the interest of the British audience as this tours the UK, it is built around a wartime visit she made to London.
Roosevelt (Skilbeck) is an old woman, lying back and covered in a mink-collared coat. The October 1962 Cuban missile crisis has pushed the world to the brink of catastrophe, threatening the end of everything, as she recalls. She, 78, is dying and looks back at memorable moments of her life.
Years earlier, in apparent contradiction to her fears of world disaster, or just following the dominant political line, she would comment on the U.S. dropping nuclear bombs in Japan in August 1945 that, “Truman had to do it. Save lives, bring peace.” (No, he didn’t, the Japanese were about to surrender. The bombing was a message to the Soviets, as revisionist historians document.)
But now she is looking back to wartime London, 1942. In the events, she wears a loose reddish dress of the time, hair pulled back, coat with a fur collar, hat with red feathers. The set is dominated by a tall coat rack for the hat and coat which she puts on and sheds through the scenes. The play is fluidly directed by Lucy Skilbeck so that costume shifts reflect time shifts. (There is no Skilbeck family relationship, just a coincidence of names.)
And as Alison Skilbeck makes her come alive, she is exhilarating. (You can see why she has won so many British theater awards.)
In London, Eleanor visits destroyed buildings, air raid shelters, women volunteers, gives speeches. She will tell FDR about the concerns of American soldiers.
As the wife of the U.S. president, she is feted. She remarks, “Churchill drinks too much, repeats himself.” He is pro-Franco. She argues for the loyalists. She says, “He’s an imperialist.” She prefers Labor Party people and their leader, Ernest Bevin.
The play deals with her personal life. Lucy Mercer, then Eleanor’s social secretary, started an affair with Franklin in 1916.
Eleanor discovers Lucy’s love letters two years later and offers Franklin a divorce, but he refuses for political reasons. She tells him, “You must never see Lucy again.”
Don’t bet on it. Their marriage changes, they sleep apart. But they continue a partnership, apart. She campaigns for him for governor of New York.
Eleanor meets AP reporter Lorena Hicks in 1932 when she is covering FDR’s first presidential campaign. Both had been betrayed in love and become deepest friends, though in spite of some steamy letters, biographers dispute whether they were lovers. (Hicks later persuaded Eleanor to start the weekly “My Day” column which I remember reading in the New York Post under Jimmy Wechsler, pre-Murdoch.)
The play is not complimentary about the Roosevelt family: Eleanor’s mother-in-law Sarah Delano bought two homes with connecting doors for her and the couple. And FDR’s daughter Anna arranged visits to the White House by Lucy Mercer in the 1940s. One visit was most likely while Eleanor was in London.
Her first official job was as U.S. delegate to the UN, appointed by President Truman. She was elected chair of the committee drawing up a universal declaration human rights. She would die in November 1962, with that as her legacy.
“Mrs. Roosevelt Flies to London” is not just for Brits. It is a skillfully presented and absorbing play that should be performed on American stages and especially in schools and colleges. Watch the video clip!
“Mrs. Roosevelt Flies to London.” Written and performed by Alison Skilbeck, directed by Lucy Skilbeck. Hint of Lime Productions. Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh. Runtime 1hr15min. July 31 to Aug 24, 2025. Video clip.