Waiting in the Wings by Noël Coward

Noël Coward: Waiting in the Wings
Saturday-Night Theatre: Waiting in the Wings
Sat 14th Apr 1990, 19:45 on BBC Radio 4 FM

The moving and amusing play by 'the Master’.

The Wings is a home for retired actresses. When two rival stars find they will be living together, trouble can be expected. Add the inquisitive press, a clutch of stagey biddies and what of course inevitably does 'wait in the wings', and we have the master's last-but-one play of pathos and comedy.

The time is 1960.
Pianist: Geoffrey Brawn

Director: Graham Gauld
Bonita: Josephine Gordon
Cora: Evelyn Laye
Maud: Audrey Leybourne
May: Mary Ellis
Deirdre: Mary Wimbush
Estelle: Ursula Hirst
Almina: Joan Matheson
Perry: David Griffin
Miss Archie: Jill Balcon
Osgood: Alan Wheatley
Lotta: Dinah Sheridan
Dora: June Spencer
Doreen: Alice Arnold
Sarita: Patricia Hayes
Zelda: Hannah Gordon
Dr Jevons: Peter Craze
Alan: David Goudge

Waiting in the Wings' was Coward's fiftieth play. It premiered in 1960 and is set in a charitable retirement home for actresses in that era, over a period of several months. It focuses on a feud between elderly residents Lotta Bainbridge and May Davenport, who once both loved the same man. The home itself is run by a charity; the committee for which, tries various means to raise money, however it soon becomes apparent that most of the committee members are regarded with scorn by the residents. A fund-raising show is organised, and separately, a journalist is invited to visit in the hopes of generating publicity and income for the charitable foundation. The plan backfires somewhat when an scathing article is published - however the cheque which arrives from the newspaper, softens the blow. Several of the residents' conditions deteriorate and the inevitable death of a character is at poignant odds with its circumstances. The final scene between Lotta and her son is a touching portrayal and reveals the cause of the decades-old animosity between the two main actresses. This play is a wise and compassionate address of the problems of aging and death that confront everyone crafted with Noël Coward's trademark comedy and wit.

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