Springwood – Hampstead Theatre

Last Updated on June 30, 2026

The hot dog summit

3.0 out of 5.0 stars

Springwood, which has just opened at Hampstead Theatre, is a historical drama that tells the story of the 1939 meeting at Franklin (Robert Lindsay) and Eleanor (Jemma Redgrave) Roosevelt’s New York estate, Hyde Park, with King George VI (Andrew Havill) and Queen Elizabeth (Rebecca Night). The King hopes to garner American support for the approaching war. The meeting became known as the hot dog summit because that was what was served at a picnic arranged to honour his visit. This was just one of the cultural clashes that had to be negotiated in this first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to the United States.  The visit takes a turn when Roosevelt’s distant cousin and childhood friend, Daisy, is revealed to be Roosevelt’s lover.

The first iteration of Springwood, written and directed by Richard Nelson – before it became the movie (also written by Nelson), Hyde Park on Hudson – was Nelson’s radio play for the BBC. Watching the play, I thought about how well it would work as a radio play and how certain elements have lost power on the stage. The entire first half built up tension about the picnic to be held the following day. There is particular attention drawn to Bertie and Elizabeth, as the Roosevelts call them, who are going to be served hot dogs, an item they have never encountered and do not know how to eat. The play explores well the symbolism of hot dogs, and the royal couple discuss whether being made to eat hot dogs is a way of humiliating them. Not at all, Eleanor explains to Elizabeth; it is an attempt to level the playing field, getting the English visitors to engage in American culture rather than being condescending as Americans suspect them to be. It is also a way to humanise the royals, a subtle political move aimed at bringing the American politicians and public onto the side of the British and joining the war effort. There is a telling moment when FDR explains to the King that it will take a long time to get the American public around to agreeing to support the war, and when that happens, they will not necessarily choose to support the British. When the play finally reaches its climax – it is a rather slow build-up – the hot dog scene is played off stage, and the audience is left to watch the rather bland faces of the support staff overhearing Roosevelt asking if the King takes mustard. It is rather a damp squib.

Springwood certainly has its charms; it is well acted, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments in the second half, but many of the lighter moments failed to land. There is rather too much repetition of the same lines, which no doubt are supposed to be played for laughs, particularly ‘the walls are very thin ’, but it is the line itself that wears very thin with repeated use. The idea of scripting the imagined conversations between two powerful couples in the months before the devastation of WWII is to be unleashed is powerful, and the play humanises all four characters, with their relative strengths and foibles. There are some lovely conversations, especially between Bertie and FDR, as both men discuss their disabilities, but these are not sufficient to fill out the play, which feels rather light in content while plodding in pace.

Springwood is based on the diaries of Daisy Stuckley found after her death, so it is understandable that this is one of the subplots of the play. Yet, I found this to be rather a distraction, and the scene where the King supposedly walks in on Daisy and Roosevelt having sex seems implausible.

Robert Lindsay was convincing in the role of the flawed President who lives under the thumb of his mother on the one hand, while being wooed and flattered by a group of young women on the other.  He was one of the most powerful men in the world and yet still intimidated by the imperious matriarch who was well portrayed by Eileen Nicholas. Jemma Redgrave was commanding as Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman, like the Queen, who is carrying out her ‘duty’ even though her marriage to the President is now a cover for them both to carry on their affairs discreetly. Andrew Havill was a convincing Bertie, all buttoned up, repressed, anxious, low in confidence and social graces, a lonely man who had a lonely childhood and is drawn to the good-natured warmth of FDR. I was less convinced by Rebecca Night as Elizabeth, but this might have had more to do with the way the playwright wrote her part than her delivery. Constant questioning ‘what are they trying to tell us, Bertie?’ became annoying and even her telephoning her children from overseas comes across as inept rather than humane.

With the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the USA at a tense moment in current affairs, and the optics of world leaders ever more important in swaying public opinion both regarding their popularity as well as acceptance of their political programmes, it is interesting to consider how these issues played out nearly 90 years ago. Springwood gives us insight into the people behind the official masks, but is less successful in making us care about them.

Springwood runs at Hampstead Theatre from 19 June – 25 July 2026

Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 3EU

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