Details

Lingua Franca follows innocent abroad, Steven Flowers, as he travels from National Service in South-East Asia to 1950's Florence. He soon finds himself working for a chaotically-run language school, together with a cosmopolitan muddle of seven foreign misfits killing their post-war nihilism in the cafés of Florence, the cradle of Renaissance high culture. Based around a leading character in Peter Nichols' acclaimed work Privates on Parade, and inspired by his own experiences, Lingua Franca is a fast-paced, sexually-charged story, and both a damning indictment and a celebration of sexual freedom. Playing with notions of xenophobia and deep-seated cultural stereotypes, nationalist foibles and prejudices clash and sparkle to high comic effect as Steven tries to make sense of his own life and a Europe at peace after so many years of war.

Creatives/Company

Author: Peter Nichols