‘Man in an Orange Shirt’ examines gay life
Two love stories, 70 years apart, define the fascinating approach of “Man in an Orange Shirt.” The “Masterpiece” drama, debuting tonight, explores how gay life has changed in England.
The show premiered last year in England when that country marked the 50th anniversary of decriminalizing male homosexual acts. PBS presents the program during LGBT Pride Month, which commemorates 1969’s Stonewall Riots and the start of gay liberation.
The first love story unfolds as World War II concludes in 1945. Capt. Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) watches over fellow officer Thomas March (James McArdle), a painter recuperating from wounds. They acknowledge their attraction to each other, then have a passionate affair after the war. The program title refers to Thomas’ striking painting of Michael.
But Michael marries Flora (Joanna Vanderham), who knows nothing of the affair. She learns about it when she is pregnant and reacts with fury. Everyone suffers.
Michael still longs for Thomas, whose health deteriorates after being imprisoned for homosexuality. Flora complains to pained Michael, “I’m just the sister who happened to bear your child.”
The story jumps 70 years, after the deaths of Michael and Thomas. Flora (Vanessa Redgrave assumes the role) lives with her grandson, Adam (Julian Morris), a veterinarian who is gay.
Adam has sexual freedom, but an addiction to dating apps thwarts his happiness. He is thrown by his attraction to Steve (David Gyasi), a kindly architect.
“Man in an Orange Shirt” presents gay lives and sexuality in a frank, adult manner that may surprise “Masterpiece” fans. Writer Patrick Gale and director Michael Samuels examine longing and anguish with bracing directness, and the cast responds with vivid performances.
Standout Redgrave is moving and empathetic as Flora struggles with anger and family secrets.
The 1940s sequences have the passionate flourishes of movies of that time. The contemporary scenes are edgier and blunter, and the payoff is haunting when the two stories come together.
“Man in the Orange Shirt” suggests that today and the past fit together in ways we may never fully comprehend, but we gain if we try to understand. Tonight, 8 Tonight, 11