Double Bill - Two One Act Comedies

PLAY ONE Hands Across The Sea, by Noel Coward In 1936 two mild mannered visitors from the colonies accept a casual invitation from an upper-class British couple to drop in on them at their Mayfair flat when they ever make a trip to England. It is the kind of smart house where the telephone never stops and there is a continuous conversation with no beginning or end. In their enthusiasm for hospitality, the British couple, Commander Peter Gilpin and his wife Lady Maureen ("Piggie") Gilpin, have invited so many people to their cocktail party that they can't entirely remember who they have actually invited. Mistaking one couple they vaguely know – the Wadhursts – for another couple they know just as vaguely – the Rawlingsons, the Gilpins create utter confusion mingled with meaningless conversations over the telephone and drinks all round. PLAY TWO Someone Called Rob, by Martin Lindsay Rob receives a phone call from a blocked number. The caller is Adam, the irate boyfriend of Kate. Rob doesn't know Kate, apart from a vague recollection of drunkenly signing the birthday card of a girl at the pub a few nights previously. Then Kate calls. Then Kate's friend calls, wanting to know why Rob is trying to come between Adam and Kate. Adam is apparently a very jealous boyfriend. Rob is quite confused, and worried. He spirals into a state of paranoia, wondering if the next car to drive past his front door will be the psychopathic Adam, hell bent on revenge. A new comedy from the pen of Martin Lindsay, a long time Melville member who has also penned One Night Stand Off and Brown Acid.