Actonians Drama Group

Synopsis

The play works on the idea that the characters in the play are actually watching the audience, expecting them to perform. The playwright of the 'play' Kate is also in the audience and is anxiously willing the show to go well. The comedy ensues when Frayn holds a mirror up to the audience and they see their own foibles as audience members. The characters are Joan, an elderly woman not entirely focused on the play, accompanied by her daughter Helena. The Usherette who gets things wrong, more times than right. Charles pays more attention to his companion than the play. His companion, Amanda, is terrified of seeing anyone that she knows with Charles. Bobbie is an American lady who is with her dozy American husband Merrill. Quentin is a drama teacher who is with a drama student Lee, who doesn't want to be there. Eileen, Reginald and Wendy are a family, who disrupt proceedings in a comic fashion. Wendy the awkward teenage daughter, does not want to be there but it is her birthday 'treat'.