Overview

Doing a song and dance act in a vaudeville theatre are George Pepper and his wife, Lily. They also have a genius for picking quarrels and insulting co workers. When the house musical director, Bert, comes to the dressing room to bum a cigarette and a beer, they chide him for accompanying them in the wrong tempo, call him a drunk, and oust him. Mr. Edwards, house manager, comes to defend Bert, and he is insulted. At the following show Bert had his revenge when he plays the accompaniment so fast the Peppers get frantic and finally fall down. Lily stalks off the stage after heaving her hat at Bert.

This title is part of Tonight at 8.30, a cycle of ten one-act plays by Coward consisting of: We Were Dancing, The Astonished Heart, Hands Across the Sea, Fumed Oak, Shadow Play, Ways and Means, Still Life, Family Album and Star Chamber.