July 2013 Production

Tonight at 8.00

Written by Noel Coward

Synopses

Sill Life – a play on which the film Brief Encounter was based

In the refreshment room of Milford Junction railway station, in the spring, Laura Jesson, a housewife, is waiting for her train home after shopping. She is in pain from a piece of grit that has got into her eye. Alec Harvey, a married physician, who is in the refreshment room removes it for her. The next summer, Alec and Laura have met each other a second time by chance and have enjoyed each other's company to the extent of arranging to lunch together and go to the cinema. In October, they are forced to admit that they are in love with each other.

Fumed Oak - an unpleasant comedy

It is breakfast time in the home of Henry Gow, a downtrodden, middle-aged salesman. He eats silently while the three women in his life exchange unpleasantries. His sloppy wife, Doris, and "horrible adenoidal daughter", Elsie, argue about her putting her hair up. Doris and his nagging mother-in-law, Mrs Rockett, quarrel about physical complaints, and Doris suggests that her mother move in with another relative.

Red Peppers - an interlude with music

George and Lily Pepper are a husband-and-wife act in touring music hall. Onstage at a provincial theatre, their act is a mess. In their act, George and Lily are dressed as sailors and sing "Has Anybody Seen our Ship?" In white tie and tails as a pair of flâneurs, they sing "Men About Town". Offstage in their dressing room between the two numbers, the argumentative couple drink beer, eat steaks, comb their wigs, slang each other mercilessly and then join forces to slang the manager. They also slang the theatre's musical director, which backfires when he later vindictively speeds up at the end of their second number, turning their final exit into a disastrous scramble.