Details

They say the family that plays together, stays together. For Walter, the young tutor to a middle class English family, this saying is about to take on a deeper meaning. As relationships spiral out of control, the family's weekend retreat in the country rapidly becomes a battle field. Stanley is a self-made businessman incapable of expressing his emotions or compromising with others; his wife Louise imagines herself an intellectual, though her intelligence is more of an affectation than a reality. Stanley and Louise hire Walter, a teacher from Germany, as a tutor for their two teenage children, effeminate Clive and high-strung Pamela. Walter tries to ingratiate himself with the family, with little success; when he tries to get to know Louise better, she imagines that he's fallen in love with her, and she's deeply hurt when he confesses that he instead sees her as a motherly figure. Walter is eventually driven to the brink of suicide, which forces the family to reconsider their attitudes toward Walter and each other.

Creatives/Company

Author: Peter Shaffer