Synopsis

A gentle tragicomedy that brings together a rich cast of characters who follow, or fail to follow, the path of true love:

Ned, who ignores his father’s warning that ‘women are dangerously mad’ and Grace, who sets Ned a sensible test, before agreeing to marry him. Their honeymoon in Westward Ho! is not the romantic idyll Ned had hoped for, and sex with Grace in Muswell Hill, while brisk and bracing, isn’t tender.

Lilith & Henry, a magical pairing, adored by everyone, the stars of the university dramatic society; who find themselves marrying in a Saxon church and honeymooning in Verona. But do they share the same passions and will their life in Knightsbridge fulfil Lilith’s spoken and unspoken hopes and dreams?

Marco, tall and correct, and Flo, plump and chaotic, are ‘of course’ unsuited. While Marco harbours a desire to be English, Flo yearns to be extravagantly Italian. Their relatives agree: it will end in disaster. Although it may not, because Marco and Flo share a language that is more eloquent than words.

In Muswell Hill and Knightsbridge the opera ends. Tosca jumps from the ramparts and falls to her death. Ned makes his decision; Lilith makes hers. What happens the next morning when, by chance, they come face to face on the platform at King’s Cross?

Nor must we forget Flo’s benevolent godfather, poor Uncle Hugo, who, many years ago, surrendered to family pressure and left the love of his life in Rimini to live, a lonely bachelor in Bath. A melancholy story perhaps; sometimes in life, the best we can hope for is the happiness of others.

Duration

Characters