1919: with the turmoil of the Great War beginning to recede, life in Britain is returning to – well, not quite normal. For after four years of war, the staid Edwardian era is truly over and the Jazz Age is about to begin. Read more …
Society beauty Victoria definitely looks to the future. After her first husband, Bill, was killed at Ypres, she went completely to pieces, but managed to pull herself together - after a year’s dutiful mourning - by marrying her husband’s best friend, Frederick.
But then, out of the blue, Bill turns up on the doorstep, a touch of amnesia and a spell in a German POW camp having delayed his return. Surprisingly unaffected by his ordeal, Bill is cheered to see his wife, but a mite put out to discover that she’s acquired another husband. And that it’s his old chum Frederick.
Interestingly, Victoria seems unconcerned by the news that she’s a bigamist. Perhaps that’s because she’s decided that soldiers no longer make fashionable husbands - and her solicitor has arranged more divorces than any other lawyer in England. Does she already have eyes on husband number three?
Something of a missing link between Wilde and Wodehouse, Home And Beauty is a high energy, sharp-as-a-tack comedy of morals, manners and marriage by one of the greatest playwrights and novelists of the inter-war years. Don’t miss this rare revival of a classic period comedy!
Maugham's deceptively frothy affair keeps its own amused council regarding its greater intent, even as it winks at those in the know.
Just like the genteel, romantic comedies of Wilde and Coward, this is a wonderfully witty, cynical satire about marriage, divorce and social class in Britain.
Almost 100 years on, the charms of Maugham’s comedy of manners have become increasingly discreet.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry from Thursday June 4, 2015, until Thursday October 15, 2015. Playing in repertory. Check website for performance dates.. More info: www.pitlochry.org.uk
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