The Admirable Crichton

More inscrutable than admirable, Crichton is a butler who gets marooned on a desert island with his aristocratic employers. JM Barrie's comedy about the English class system shows how practical, resourceful Crichton (Russell Tovey) soon emerges as the natural leader, while his clueless 'superiors' are reduced to acolytes.

When the group are rescued, the toffs gratefully resume their former roles, and Crichton has to seek employment elsewhere. If the plot seems rather predictable now, it's Crichton's character that gives the play edge. Far from being the honest, working-class hero, there's a sadistic streak to Crichton, who sneers at this ignorance of more lowly servants, and clearly revels in humiliating the haughty Lady Many when he realises she's fallen in love with him. You may wonder whose side Barrie was really on.