An Eligible Man

Synopsis

A charming and charismatic recently widowed Hampstead judge struggles to throw off his burden of grief. As he does his best to come to terms with the baffling mysteries of domestic life, from which his late wife has always protected him, he is surprised to discover that as an attractive and eligible widower in late middle age he is much in demand. He finds himself pursued by three very determined women desperately looking for new husbands. With which of them will he find the happiness he has lost and the contentment he is seeking? The efforts of the women to ensnare him, in which no holds are barred, are played out in a touching and hilarious comedy of grief by bestselling author and playwright Rosemary Friedman.

Our Review:

7 May 2008

The plot of Rosemary Friedman’s An Eligible Man is straight-forward enough: wealthy, recently widowed London Judge Topher (Graham Seed) is pursued by three divorcees all hoping to relieve him of his grief, his loneliness, and no doubt a good amount of his money as well.

It is in many ways a classic, Coward-esque drawing room farce, reminiscent of Present Laughter in that its protagonist spends the majority of his time staving off (mostly) unwanted romantic attentions. As Topher (just one of a series of bizarre character names - others include Penge and Chrysanthemum) struggles to move on from the memories of his dead wife, doors slam and countless whiskeys are poured as he juggles the increasingly desperate approaches of his trio of would-be wives.

As ‘eligible man’ Topher, Graham Seed lacks a consistency of character that makes his performance altogether rather odd – unfinished sentences and sudden bursts of...

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