The Light of Heart

Cattrin, crippled as a result of a childhood accident, has looked after her father Maddoc for a number of years. Maddoc was once a very fine and famous actor, but an over-fondness for drink has kept him off the stage for a long time. During the eleven months which the play covers, their almost hand-to-mouth existence is turned upside down by the arrival at their lodging house of Robert, a young musician, who helps Maddoc to pick up the threads of his acting career once again, culminating in the opportunity to play King Lear at Covent Garden. Robert also allows Cattrin to realize that she has her own life to lead, and confident that her father can now stand on his own two feet, Cattrin secretly agrees to marry Robert and go to America with him. But shortly before the first performance of Lear, Maddoc discovers their plans, shattering his new-found confidence. By the end of this touching and poignant play, all is resolved, but not without tragedy.