BBC Radio 4, 2 October 2012
In 1936 Morris Davis (David Bower) met Eva (Emily Howlett) at a deaf
club in Warrington. The two of them fell in love and pursued a long, if somewhat difficult courtship until they married.
There were two main difficulties - although born in England, Morris had moved to New York in 1924, and wanted to take Eva
back to America with him. Eva's family objected, not only to the distances involved, but because Eva had to spend a
lot of time and energy obtaining a visa. However the course of true love eventually ran smooth, and the two of them were united
for over thirty years.
Based on a book of letters edited by Eva and Morris' youngest son Lennard, Shall
I Say a Kiss bore strong resemblances to other epistolary plays with a transatlantic theme, notably James Roose-Evans'
84 Charing Cross Road. What made Polly Thomas' production so memorable was the sincerity of the performances: we
felt for Eva as she tried to negotiate the bureaucratic hoops necessary to obtain her visa, while simultaneously experiencing
pangs of self-doubt as to whether she was actually doing the right thing. Her mother Mrs. Weintrobe (Miriam Margolyes) offered
what support she could, but she was quite obviously disturbed by the thought of her daughter emigrating across the Atlantic.
For his part Morris remained doggedly persistent; he was genuinely in love with Eva, and would do anything to ensure that
she became his bride.
Above all the play was a testament to the strength of the human spirit and its capacity
to deal with - and eventually overcome - adversity.
