Here we have two plays that are based on the same characters and are to be performed simultaneously at a theatre with a capacity of two equally large stages. It was put up successfully at Ayckbourn’s own theatre in Scarborough and at a later date at The Royal National Theatre in London. The plays can be seen in either order.
In both plays the action takes place on a Saturday in August from 8am to 6pm. They unfold at a characteristic old manor house in the countryside, inhabited by the Platt family that has been living there for centuries. At present it is Teddy and Trish Platt with their 17 years old daughter Sally. As it turns out, Teddy is unfaithful to his wife with his best friend, 0only trouble though, is that the new Parliament candidate has to have a proper and faultless family life. So, to put it mildly, it is almost impossible for Teddy to sort everything out in just one morning before the lunch, where everybody involved will be present. Inevitably, it all ends in chaos as marriages are dissolved, family secrets revealed and unsuccessful suicide attempts in too little water take place, which all makes it terribly tragicomic. Ayckbourn has not been so seriously funny since ‘The Norman Conquest’.Giles’ wife Joanna. Furthermore, everyone is aware of the affair except the good-hearted and pleasant Giles. So in order to revenge it, Trish makes Teddy invisible. In other words she gives him the silent treatment, unaffected of how much he talks to her. However, on this particular Saturday, he is forced to break her silence as the Platts are hosting their annual garden party and bazaar for the local people in the neighbourhood. To launch the party, they have invited a French actress but also present is a politically influential novelist who, on behalf of the Prime Minister, has been asked to suggest to Teddy that he stands for the Parliamentary election. Both his Father and Grand Father were legendary party followers. The%2
