68:. In the play, the couple are transformed into the egotistical left-wing literary critic Sebastian and his East European refugee wife Lydia. During the Second World War, some 30 years previously, Sebastian had served in military intelligence while the part-Jewish Lydia was with the Resistance and then survived on her wits and her feminine charms; each is shown using the aptitude for deception developed then to try to protect the other from the knowledge that Lydia is suffering from a terminal illness. Rounding out the cast are Mark, a best-selling popular novelist and a friend of Sebastian's, who has long carried a torch for Lydia, and Joey, the couple's 20-year-old son, himself an aspiring writer, who is in rebellion against his father's overbearing manner and professed Marxist views.
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as Lydia. Rattigan was said to be "intensely disappointed and frustrated" by
Harrison's performance, as "Harrison refused to play the outwardly boorish parts of the character and instead played him as charming throughout, signalling to the audience from the start that he knew the truth about Lydia's
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While on the surface the play takes the form of a comedy of misunderstanding, it quickly builds into a situation of almost unbearable suspense as layer after layer of comedy and pretence is peeled away from each character to reveal the full measure of each one's unspoken love and pain. As well as
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illness." Critics however were quite pleased with the performance and, although it did not have a long run (199 performances), it was yet another of
Harrison's well plotted naturalistic performances.
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is as fine a statement about the loss of idealism and illusions in the 1970s as any play by any of the younger
British dramatists of the period. The second play in the double bill was
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critic as “the most piercing exposition of love under great stress that I have ever seen on the stage.”
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The plays were described by
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The play's action was loosely inspired by the relationship between the actor
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the same year. It has become a staple of repertory theatre seasons since.
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being an outstanding dissection of the nature of love and pain,
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378:"Television » 20 Mar 1976 » The Spectator Archive"
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as Lydia. It ran for 131 performances, and was described by
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Cover of playbill for original
Broadway production with
360:"In Praise of Love – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB"
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In 1976, the play was filmed to great acclaim, with
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347:. 29 October 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
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220:in the lead roles. It was revived at the
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105:The original London production, at the
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405:Billington, Michael (6 April 2011).
297:"In Praise of Love - Drama Online"
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409:– via www.theguardian.com.
317:Wansell, Geoffrey (3 May 2012).
438:In Praise of Love
228:in 2011. It was broadcast as a
195:Joey Cruttwell - Peter Burnell
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320:Terence Rattigan: A Biography
407:"In Praise of Love – review"
957:The Girl Who Came to Supper
842:The Prince and the Showgirl
222:Chichester Festival Theatre
51:, a burlesque of the opera
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985:Plays based on real people
826:The Man Who Loved Redheads
706:The Belles of St. Clements
443:Internet Broadway Database
301:www.dramaonlinelibrary.com
200:Adaptations & revivals
990:Plays by Terence Rattigan
333:– via Google Books.
96:is unaccountably feeble.
92:is a small masterpiece.
655:A Bequest to the Nation
392:"In praise of Rattigan"
84:, a crude burlesque of
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358:League, The Broadway.
183:Sebastian Cruttwell -
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64:and his actress wife
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914:The Browning Version
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762:The Way to the Stars
722:French Without Tears
631:Variation on a Theme
575:The Browning Version
551:While the Sun Shines
511:French Without Tears
503:A Tale of Two Cities
101:Original productions
615:The Sleeping Prince
224:in 2006 and at the
898:Goodbye, Mr. Chips
177:Lydia Cruttwell -
131:Lydia Cruttwell -
109:, was directed by
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810:The Sound Barrier
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663:In Praise of Love
607:The Deep Blue Sea
423:. 5 January 2015.
258:"terencerattigan"
210:Anglia Television
149:Joey Cruttwell -
117:as Sebastian and
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671:Before Dawn
647:Man and Boy
234:BBC Radio 4
230:Radio drama
212:, and with
162:Before Dawn
145:Don Fellows
111:John Dexter
94:Before Dawn
82:Before Dawn
66:Kay Kendall
49:Before Dawn
41:After Lydia
980:1973 plays
974:Categories
746:Uncensored
543:Flare Path
240:References
164:, starred
690:(1975/77)
535:Grey Farm
478:Works by
158:Fred Coe
441:at the
960:(1963)
952:(1960)
933:(2011)
925:(1999)
917:(1994)
909:(1973)
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893:(1966)
890:Nelson
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30:, 1974
26:&
714:Gypsy
487:Plays
86:Tosca
54:Tosca
639:Ross
325:ISBN
216:and
283:BBC
232:on
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