Lettice and Lovage

The first major revival since 1987

If you were a tour guide, would you be tempted to, er, sex things up a bit? Accomplished director Sir Trevor Nunn rounds off his comedy play double bill at the Menier Chocolate Factory this spring with a brand-new revival of Peter Schaffer's 1987 satire, Lettice and Lovage, which originally starred Maggie Smith opposite Margaret Tyzack. This two-hander concentrates on the relationship that builds during a dismissal interview between two women, played by Felicity Kendal and Maureen Lipman.

When Lettice, a flamboyant and imaginative tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind an English country house is caught by an officious, and fact-obsessed superior, she is fired unceremoniously. However, Lettice must go through an exit interview of sorts - with that same supervisor. What transpires next is a bond of friendship forming as they find similarities in their own lives with each other. Will Lettice ultimately keep her job? Or are the rules, the rules? Originally written for Dame Maggie Smith, Lettice and Lovage transferred to Broadway in 1988 with a new cast, albeit slightly revised by Schaffer to satisfy American audiences.