ON October 13, 1939, Britain was six weeks into what had already become known as the Second World War.

That evening, then prime minister Neville Chamberlain and soon-to-be prime minister Winston Churchill sat down along with their wives, Anne and Clementine, at a private dinner.

To this day, there is no official record of what happened that evening – The Lion and the Unicorn is veteran actor and playwrite Robin Hawdon's reimagining of what was said during the meeting.

The Chronicle went along to the play's premier on Wednesday, October 2, at Winchester's Theatre Royal, which was packed with an appreciative, if not ecstatic, audience.

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The five-person cast was made up of Coronation Street's Brian Capron (Chamberlain), Emmerdale's Corrinne Wicks and Frazer Hines (Clementine Churchill and "Inches"), Father Brown's Tim Hudson (Winston Churchill) and Sarah Gain (Anne Chamberlain).

The allegory isn't difficult to guess: Churchill's the lion and Chamberlain is the unicorn.

The play is mostly a back-and-forth between the two political rivals as they debate how to deal with Adolf Hitler's aggression in the wake of his invasion of Poland

Churchill says things like "I am bred from a race of warriors, Neville from a race of merchants," while Chamberlain sputters about "turning the other cheek to Hitler".

The wives, Clementine and Anne, provide ironic comments and remonstrate with their husbands, but don't really participate in the serious business of statesmanship.

Actually, all the characters pale in comparison to Churchill, who is the sun around which the others revolve.

The fifth character, Inches, is presumably the great man's valet (perhaps based on Frank Swayers?) and offers wisecracks and musings from a less grandiose perspective.

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The play ended with Churchill in the spotlight lighting up a cigar to Vera Lynn's The White Cliffs of Dover, which felt like a bit too much for me personally.

The audience chuckled at times, although it never really burst out into full laughter.

One of the more appreciated jokes was one of Churchill's quips which mixed toilet humour with political.

When Chamberlain asks "What’s the matter, Winston, afraid to go to the lavatory with the socialists?" Churchill replies "The problem with you is, whenever you see something big you want to nationalise it."

All in all, the play is an interesting insight into one of Britain's darkest moments, but ultimately cannot break away from the cliches surrounding one of Britain's most stereotyped national heroes.

The Lion and the Unicorn is organised by the Crime and Comedy Theatre Company and is running throughout October at a variety of theatres.

For full details, visit crimeandcomedytheatrecompany.co.uk.