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A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Short Play, Drama / 4w, 1m
Jimmie Chinn
''In By The Half'' is yet another humorous yet immensely touching play from the pen of Jimmie Chinn. Madam, once a distinguished actress, lives in seclusion looked after by her ex-dresser. Their peaceful routine includes visits from the doctor and the insipid Sylvia, who takes acting lessons from Madam. But the initial acerbic comedy of the play gives way to the poignant drama of familial anguish.
''In By The Half'' is yet another humorous yet immensely touching play from the pen of Jimmie Chinn. Madam, once a distinguished actress, lives in seclusion in a cottage in West London, looked after by her housekeeper and ex-dresser, Doris. Their peaceful routine includes regular visits from the doctor and the insipid Sylvia, who takes acting lessons from Madam. Life for these ladies has become a well-regulated, quiet experience. One day, however, a surprise visitor arrives - Ursula, Madam's estranged daughter, who is nursing a bitter secret. The initial acerbic comedy of the play gives way to the poignant drama of familial anguish -as Madam and Ursula are forced to confront several unhappy truths and to move towards some kind of understanding. Madam, left alone at the close, relinqishes her long-held theatrical pretensions, aware that they are now completely meaningless.
The play was first presented by Teddington Theatre Club Audio in 1993.
Later that year it was performed on Radio 4.
M1 F4, or F5 (young, 40s, elderly)
The Doctor can be male or female.
A siiting room of Madam's small, neat terraced cottage in Hammersmith, West London.
James 'Jimmie' Chinn was born in Middleton, Lancashire on March 30th 1940 - the only son of his beloved mother, Edie. His early years, although not always easy, were to shape his writing in the future, and this often difficult time compounded his determination to achieve grea ...