Grappling with emotions in powerful play at Kenilworth theatre

A MOVING 1970s love story by Terence Rattigan is coming to the Talisman Theatre in Kenilworth next week.

In Praise of Love is set over two evenings in an Islington Flat in 1973 as the country collapses into industrial anarchy.

Its main theme is the inability of the English to express true emotion to each other - how this can be a strength and a weakness.

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Literary critic Sebastian Cruttwell (Andrew Bayliss) is married to Lydia (Linda Connor), an Estonian war-time refugee and ex-espionage agent. Their son Joey (Damien Storey), who believes that his father’s Marxist views are totally hypocritical, has become an agent of the Liberal Party. Both Sebastian and Lydia have individually received some very bad news when their friend, successful American novelist Mark Walters, arrives for dinner.

John Francis, taking on the role of the American novelist, said: “With Rattigan’s fabulous use of language, this is a great, old-fashioned love-story.”

Director John Dawson has encouraged the cast think about the beauty and subtlety of the language, as well as making sure that the joy of the denouement and the many witty lines, are successfully played.

The original version of the play, After Lydia, was part of a double bill which Rattigan has re-crafted.

The show runs from Monday to Saturday March 9 with performances beginning at 7.30pm. Tickets cost from £7 to £8. Call 856548.

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