Chesil Theatre Winchester’s next production is the psychological thriller Ladies in Retirement by Edward Percy and Reginald Denham which runs from May 21-28 with a matinee on May 22.

Ladies In Retirement is set in 1885 and based on a true event. Leonora Fisk is a retired actress, though probably more accurately no more than a chorus girl. Thanks to the generosity of her many male admirers over the years, she is able to retire in some comfort to a remote farmhouse on the Thames estuary, surrounded by mists, marshes and flooded tracks.

Her housekeeper/companion Ellen Creed has had a less fortunate life. From a genteel background, the family has fallen on hard times with Ellen now solely responsible for the well-being of her two vulnerable and child-like sisters. The sisters come to stay with Leonora for a short holiday but overstaying their welcome creates pressure and things take a turn for the worse. Into this scenario comes the Creed sisters’ nephew, himself with a shady past and intent on benefitting from the situation.

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The play examines the dilemma exposed in trying to take care of loved ones many years before the welfare state came into being. The plot reveals the timeless and hidden qualities in human nature, when presented with complex moral decisions.

Ladies In Retirement is directed by Malcolm Brown whose previous productions for Chesil Theatre have included Kindertransport, Nobody’s Perfect and Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime.

Tickets are now available from chesiltheatre.org.uk.

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