Maurice's Jubilee

Synopsis

A Royal encounter. An enduring love. A bungalow in Penge. Maurice is determined to reach his 90th birthday, which is the day before the diamond jubilee. The Queen, having made him a promise 60 years before, is coming to tea. His wife is convinced he's never met the Queen. His nurse thinks it's time he did. Maurice's Jubilee is the hilariously funny and poignant take on timeless themes, the exploration of one man's enduring commitment to a dream, and an eternal love triangle, fallen on hard times.

Our Review:

Giles Cole - 26 March 2013

This is an evening of pure escapist fantasy and a tease on a majestic scale, whilst being grounded in the realities of terminal illness. It is an odd mix.

89-year-old Maurice (Julian Glover) wants to reach his 90th birthday because he believes the Queen will come for tea on that day. They made a date 60 years ago. This isn’t as bonkers as it sounds – to us, and to his long-suffering wife, Helena (Gay Soper) – because Maurice used to be a jeweller and volunteered to guard the Crown Jewels the night before the Coronation.

He thus spent a couple of hours in the company of the young, beautiful, soon-to-be Queen on his birthday and fell in love with her – a love that has lingered, and impinged on his marriage, for the last six decades.

The problem is that Maurice has eight brain tumours. His nurse, the gawky, unmarried Katy (Nichola McAuliffe, who also wrote the play) tells him that he has only weeks to live. She beli...

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