A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Straight and Narrow
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 4m
"Funny and touching." - Mail on Sunday
"Entertaining and cunningly observed." - Sunday Express
"Manages to hit the funny bone without straining desperately for effect.... mixing a lot of good jokes with a warm and sympatheti…
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Cast Size
3w, 4m -
Duration
120 minutes (2 hours) -
Target Audience
Appropriate for All Audiences
Details
Summary
STRAIGHT AND NARROW
In this West End hit comedy the central characters are Bob and Jeff. The cosy domesticity of these lovers is threatened by Jeff's crisis. Jeff is considering leaving Bob.... but for a woman, so that he can become a father. Meanwhile Bob contends with meddling family members who are ignorant of his living situation. His mother, a domineering comic creation, complicates matters by pressing Bob to get married. She refuses to recognize that there is anything about her son which might upset her conventional sensibilities. Can Bob's family - Lois and Bill, Nona and Arthur and matriarch, Vera - help to rescue the situation? And will Bob be able to tell the seemingly ignorant Vera that the 'straight and narrow' is not the life for her favourite little boy......?
History
The play was first presented by Theatre West Four, Chiswick in October 1987.
The play was subsequently presented at The Duke's Head Theatre, Richmond, Surrey in May 1989.
It was later presented by Linnit Productions Ltd and Allan Davis Ltd at the Wyndham's Theatre, London, on March 18th 1992 with Nicholas Lyndhurst and Carmel McSharry.
Keywords
Performing Groups
- Time Period Contemporary
- Additional Features Not Applicable
- Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Cautions
- Strong Language
Media
"Funny and touching." - Mail on Sunday
"Entertaining and cunningly observed." - Sunday Express
"This is the first outing in the West End for the author, Jimmie Chinn, and it is an accomplshed debut.....Manages to hit the funny bone without straining desperately for effect.... mixing a lot of good jokes with a warm and sympathetic humanity. The theatre echoes with the laughter of rueful recognition." - Daily Telegraph
"The first bravos go to the author without whose vision there would be no springboard for the high-wire artistry of anyone else involved. Jimmie Chinn has achieved the most remarkable feats of balancing on several scores..........Shot through with the most bounteous comic invention and with moments so intensely moving they should make grown men cry....... Not in many an evening have I laughed so much or come away with food for so much serious thought." - Daily Mail
'' A little theatre history was made in London last night. For just about the first time in a quarter of a century the West End theatre has dared present an excellent mainstream comedy about homosexuality.'' - Evening Standard
Music
- Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
- Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
- Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)
Licensing & Materials
- Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
Authors
Jimmie Chinn
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 ...