Summer 1954 features a double-bill of "Table Number Seven" and "The Browning Version" written by Terence Rattigan.
The atmosphere at The Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth is one of repressed emotions and post-war gentility. In this world of hushed conversations and quiet anonymity, an unlikely friendship develops between a repressed spinster and a retired Army officer. But when a newspaper threatens to reveal the Major’s long-held secret, will the other residents cast him out for good?
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Midlands, a long-serving Classics teacher is on the verge of retirement from his distinguished public school. Diminished by poor health, a crumbling marriage, the disdain of his colleagues and the derision of his pupils, he is given cause to re-examine his life when a young student offers an unexpected gesture of kindness.
Directed by Olivier Award winner James Dacre (Four Quarters, Blue/Orange), Rattigan’s one act masterpieces Table Number Seven, from Separate Tables and The Browning Version are paired together for the first time, capturing one quietly momentous evening seventy years ago.
Stage and screen stars Nathaniel Parker, Dame Siân Phillips and Lolita Chakrabarti lead an ensemble cast.
Completing the cast are Alexandra Dowling, Angela Jones, Jeremy Neumark Jones, Simon Coates, Richenda Carey, Kishore Walker, Pamela Miles, Fiona Tong, Rosalind Lailey and Bertie Hawes.
This unique tribute to Terence Rattigan will be staged at Theatre Royal Bath from 24 October to 2 November 2024 (Press Night 30 October) followed by a UK national tour stopping at Malvern Theatre (5 – 9 Nov 2024), Cambridge Arts Theatre (12 – 16 Nov 2024), Chichester Festival Theatre (21 – 25 Jan 2025), Richmond Theatre (27 Jan – 1 Feb 2025), Cheltenham Everyman Theatre (3 – 8 Feb 2025) and Oxford Playhouse (11 – 15 Feb 2025).