Separate Tables
by Terence Rattigan

Name: Separate Tables
Brand: Terence Rattigan
SKU: 9780573014048
Rating: 3.71 (210 reviews)

Separate Tables Book Cover — Separate Tables Cover

Highlights

Medium Cast

Female

Male

120 minsBritish

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the nuanced character studies and the powerful dialogue in Separate Tables, considering it a timeless work by Terence Rattigan. The play's setting in a seaside hotel allows for explorations of loneliness and human nature, which many find compelling. Some readers mention a slight sentimentality in the narratives but overall feel the work retains its relevance and charm over time.

Timeless exploration of human natureWell-crafted and insightful dialogueRich character developmentSome find it a bit sentimental

Synopsis

These two plays are set in a shabby genteel hotel on England's south coast.

Except for the two leads in each (which may be doubled) the same characters appear in both.

In Table by the Window, a down-at-the-heels journalist is confronted by his ex-wife, a former model who provoked him to the violent act that sent him to prison, destroying his future.

Still in love, they nevertheless go through another terrible scene and it is the hotel manager, Miss Cooper, who helps repair their broken lives.

In Table Number Seven, a 'self-made' army colonel without any true background and education to which he lays claim, finds solace with a spinster over the objections of her ruthless, domineering mother.

When a sordid scandal threatens to drive them apart, Miss Cooper again comes to the rescue.