by Robert Sheppard

Synopsis

The Cornish family are having a dinner to celebrate Edward and Joanna’s Silver Wedding anniversary. Their children – Edwin, Paul, Isobel and Anne – are all there for what is a rare family get-together. 

Edward is the chief executive of Lacey Hotels, a company founded by Joanna’s previous husband Rex Lacey, who was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident many years previously.  Also present is Charles Terris, an old family friend and Edward’s business consultant. The business has started to decline. Edwin, the eldest son, has no interest in carrying it on and Paul has joined a competitor. 

As the evening wears on, family conflicts become more intense and revelations about the past gradually come to light, partially fuelled by Charles’s somewhat sinister interventions.  Isobel and Ann respond in very different ways as the story unfolds and Joanna breaks down at the exposure of secrets long kept suppressed, with dramatic results. 

Duration

Characters

(4m, 4f)

• Edward Cornish - 45, chief executive of Lacey Hotels
• Joanna Cornish - 60, his wife, the widow of Rex Lacey
• Edwin Cornish - 24, their elder son
• Paul Cornish - 22, their younger son
• Isobel Cornish - 20, their elder daughter
• Ann Cornish - 18, their younger daughter
• Charles Terris - 60s, a family friend
• The Remembrancer - an older woman
• The Watchers - men and women of any age