Friday 5th to Saturday 13th March at 7.30 pm
By Enid Bagnold, Directed by Merrily Powell
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The Chalk Garden concerns a dysfunctional, upper middle-class family. Mrs St Maugham, a lonely, ageing socialite is having as little success in raising Laurel, her wild, emotionally damaged granddaughter with a penchant for pyromania, as she is in making her unresponsive garden blossom. Tensions build with the prospect of Mrs St Maugham's estranged daughter returning to reclaim Laurel. A willing but inexperienced manservant attempts to keep the house and its inmates on an even keel. Over this hovers the unseen presence of Pinkbell, the retired butler who still attempts to rule the roost from his sick bed. Meanwhile, Miss Madrigal, a woman with a mysterious past and a talent for gardening is hired as a companion for Laurel. As she begins to tame both the eponymous garden and the wayward granddaughter, a calm begins to settle over the hoisehold until the arrival of an unexpected luncheon guest with a knowledge of Miss Madrigal's past.
"A hauntingly beautiful, dark comedy." Evening Post
"Extravagently eloquent and irresistably vivid". The Times
Tickets £7 and £8. Booking from 8th February
