A late summer's day at a school in England brings the end of term, and the end of intrigues, deceptions, and lies in the lives of its inhabitants.

 

The climax of teacher Andrew Crocker Harris’s career is also the crisis of his once intensely romantic relationship with his passionate wife Millie.

​

The school celebrations, and the twisted ambitions of more popular pupils and teachers are intertwined with the inglorious retirement of the despised ‘Crock’.

 

One quietly momentous evening in summer reveals whether their mutual futures can survive the conflict and the pain lurking just beneath the surface of British gentility, cricket, and ‘playing the game’.

 

Rattigan’s play is ‘English Chekhov’ for some, and for others, a domestic drama that thrillingly lays bare its ties to the blood-soaked drama of Ancient Greece.

 

At 70 minutes, many regard it as a pocket masterpiece.