After the Dance

Synopsis

1939. Mayfair. David and Joan Scott-Fowler are a high-living and hard-drinking couple who are still trying to live the hedonistic excess of their - and the century's - twenties. Through the eyes of a younger generation, the endless drinking, partying and gossip look dangerously frivolous as Europe falls towards another war. When the reforming zeal of another woman evolves into love for David, a fateful shadow is thrown over their twelve year marriage. With poignancy and wit, Rattigan reveals the gaudy emptiness of the Bright Young Things as they move into middle age. First presented to great acclaim in 1939 and forced to close with the onset of war, After the Dance has remained unperformed for over sixty years.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 9 June 2010

Terence Rattigan’s “lost” play After the Dance begins with a butler opening the French windows while a young man taps away on a typewriter and an older man snoozes on the sofa under a copy of The Times.

So far, so familiar, audiences must have thought in the summer of 1939, when the play, Rattigan’s second, opened in the wake of his smash hit Riviera comedy French Without Tears.

But war loomed, the play turned sour and audiences stayed away: it closed after just 60 performances, despite a critical huzzah, and has not been seen since, save for Dominic Dromgoole’s well-reviewed touring revival for the Oxford Stage Company eight years ago.

Thea Sharrock’s NT production is a revelation. The game is up for the bright young things of the 1920s, stewing in alcohol and partying on with a suicidal frenzy as Rattigan zooms in on the London flat of the Scott-Fowlers, where the young man, Peter, is typ...

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Latest User Review

Jenbrady - 13 September 2010:

Its been weeks since I saw this wonderful production and its still buzzing around in my head. Its the best play Ive ever seen at the national or for that matter at any theatre. Cumberbatch, Carroll and Scarborough were quite extraordinary. I am in awe of their acting ability. Such a shame the run was so short because I;d have seen it again and again. If only the play was recorded so a larger audience could see this masterpiece. I do hope Cumberbatch has a chance to make a film of the play. ...

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