The Old Globe’s revival of British-playwright J.B. Priestley’s period classic “Time and the Conways,” directed by Rebecca Taichman, opens Thursday and will run through May 4.
The play begins in an English country home in 1919 in the midst of a game of charades played by the young Conway family at a birthday party with their friends. The story then flashes forward to 1937 in the same house, where the grown children have gathered to settle family accounts in a world not so bright as it was.
For the Conways, time is a kind of dream: their precious moments together are fleeting and brief, but their destinies are eternal.
“Time and the Conways,” by the writer of “An Inspector Calls,” is the kind of theatrical gem that the Globe’s audiences love to rediscover, with the kind of sumptuous period scenery, costumes, and artistry for which The Old Globe is renowned.
Priestley examines the driving forces of human existence: love, ambition, and most of all, time. He paints of portrait of a family in which past, present, and future are inextricably intertwined.
“I am looking forward to welcoming San Diego audiences to the Globe to rediscover this extraordinary work by a master of the English stage,” said Artistic Director Barry Edelstein.
“Rarely revived in the United States, Priestley’s plays are fascinating, moving, and highly theatrical. The visual artistry of the gifted director Rebecca Taichman and the richness of the Globe’s production values will make Time and the Conways a memorable evening.”
Priestley (1894-1984) was born in Bradford, England, the son of a schoolmaster. He served in the British Army until 1919, when he went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Priestley was a wartime broadcaster, second only to Winston Churchill as spokesman for England’s self-determination and faith. He wrote some 50 plays and dramatic adaptations as well as many novels.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org or by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE.
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theaters and has been a San Diego’s institution for over 75 years.
— From an Old Globe press release
