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''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, a town on the south seacoast of England. The first play, entitled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the troubled relationship between a disgraced Labour politician and his ex-wife. The second play, ''Table Number Seven'', is set about eighteen months after the events of the previous play, and deals with the touching friendship between a repressed spinster and a kindly but bogus man posing as an upper-class retired army officer, Major Pollock. The two principal roles in both plays are written to be played by the same performers. The secondary characters – permanent residents, the hotel's manager, and members of the staff – appear in both plays. The plays are about people who are driven by loneliness into a state of desperation. ==Premiere== After an out-of-town tryout in Manchester,〔"A Pair of Rattigan Plays at the Opera House: 'Separate Tables'", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 7 September 1954, p. 5〕 ''Separate Tables'' had its premiere at the St James's Theatre in London on 22 September 1954, with the following cast: *Mrs Shankland and Miss Railton-Bell – Margaret Leighton *Mr Martin and Major Pollock – Eric Portman *Mrs Railton-Bell – Phyllis Neilson-Terry *Miss Cooper – Beryl Measor *Mabel – Marion Fawcett *Lady Matheson – Jane Eccles *Miss Meacham – May Hallatt *Mr Fowler – Aubrey Mather *Mr Stratton – Basil Henson *Miss Tanner – Patricia Rayne The play was directed by Peter Glenville, with sets by Michael Weight.〔"St James's Theatre", ''The Times'', 23 September 1954, p. 10〕 It opened to good reviews; Harold Hobson called the second play in the double-bill, "one of Rattigan's masterpieces, in which he shows in superlative degree his pathos, his humour and his astounding mastery over () English language...".〔Wansell, p. 257〕 The production was a commercial success, running for 726 performances.〔Gaye, p. 1538〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Separate Tables」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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