Quartermaine's Terms

Synopsis

Set in the 1960s in an English language school for foreigners, this tragicomic play is a humorous but ultimately moving account of several years in the lives of seven teachers. At the heart of the group is St. John Quartermaine - kind, pleasant and agreeable, but utterly hopeless as a teacher. An almost permanent feature in the staff room, he's always available to listen to the problems of his self-obsessed colleagues. But when a new Principal is appointed, Quartermaine's future looks precarious... This quintessentially British drama is written by Simon Gray with his characteristic sparkling wit.

Our Review:

Paul Lucas-Scott - 9 January 2013

A packed house sits expectantly for the curtain to rise on the new production of Simon Gray’s 1981 play about life in the Cambridge-based Cull-Loomis School of English for Foreigners during the 1960s. The reason for the expectant hush is that the piece stars Rowan Atkinson, appearing in his first stage play for 25 years.

The curtain rises and there, slightly stage right in the staffroom setting, he sits in a leather armchair. A second character arrives and the dialogue begins – at least I think it begins as, for some reason, their voices seem particularly quiet. From my seat in the dress circle I strain to make out what they are saying and can’t help wondering how on earth the people in the upper circle and gallery are getting on.

More characters arrive and, thankfully, some of the actors are sufficiently adept at voice projection that they can, at least, be heard but, of course, this only goes to emphasise how quiet the others are....

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