A PLAY exploring friendship, marriage and what it ultimately means to be happy will be coming to Malvern next week.
Absent Friends will be appearing at Malvern Theatres from next Wednesday, August 19, until Saturday, August 22.
Set in the summer of 1974, the play tells the tale of how a well-intentioned tea party descends into chaos.
Wealthy housewife Diana arranges a gathering of old friends to cheer up bereaved Colin, whose fiancée drowned two months earlier.
Paul – her bullying, self-absorbed husband – has recently had a dalliance with Evelyn – the glamorous wife of his friend and incompetent business associate – John.
The party is completed by long-suffering Marge, who has left Gordon – her hypochondriac spouse – at home.
Preparations for the party spark tensions and open old wounds. As lingering resentments and deep-rooted jealousies surface an unexpectedly cheerful Colin strolls into the mayhem.
This is considered as one of Alan Ayckbourn’s finest plays. He is an Olivier and Tony award-winning playwright who has written 78 plays – more than half of which have been produced in London’s West End as well as around the world.
Tickets cost between £11.76 and £27.44 and evening shows will be at 7.30pm while the Thursday and Saturday matinées are at 2.30pm.
Visit www.malvern-theatres.co.uk or call the box office on 01684 892277 for more information.
