A comic drama of youth and indiscretion.
Features: DVD
Winner "Best Play of the Year" in 1949, Daphne Laureola was a great hit in post-War London when first staged there by Sir Laurence Olivier, in a production which starred Dame Edith Evans. Re-visited here in a production from 1977, starring Sir Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, Daphne Laureola is a witty and surprising tale of romantic idealism and faltering desire. In a Soho restaurant, a diverse group of people gather for dinner. Four partygoers celebrating a birthday, a bitter couple snapping over supper, an elderly working class businessman, and Ernest, a young Polish emigre. Dining separately, they find their evening disturbed by an extraordinary woman, Lady Pitts, who talks aloud and sings even louder while knocking back double brandies and handing out invitations to tea at the home of her husband Sir Joseph. The impact of her appearance on their evening and in particular on the impressionable Ernest, becomes the subject of this extraordinary production. For the young man, she is Beatrice to his Dante; Daphne, to his Apollo. But for Lady Pitts, the situation may be something entirely different, as will be revealed in Daphne Laureola.
Editor's Note
Partygoers, an elderly couple, an impressionistic young man and all of the other diverse diners at a Soho eatery are about to have their worlds shaken by Lady Pitts (Joan Plowright). Free in spirit and lubricated by the alcohol she consumes, Lady Pitts converses loudly with her fellow diners, inviting strangers to tea at the mansion of her husband, Sir Joseph (Laurence Olivier). Lady Pitts outspoken, drunken chattering elicits a variety of responses in the restaurant, from feelings of anger and irritation to stirrings of love. This 1977 production of the prize-winning 1949 play by James Bridie was originally broadcast on British television and features one of Joan Plowright's greatest performances.
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