Â鶹Éç

Three men in their 70s meet at the funeral of successful novelist, Paula Reece, who they’ve all been married to - Alan (Bill Paterson), when Paula was an actress in her twenties, Ed (Nicholas Le Prevost) when Paula was a barrister in her 40s, and George (Jonathan Pryce) when Paula became a novelist in her 50s and who was still married to her when she died.

After the other mourners have gone, the three men find themselves sitting in the evening sun on the terrace of George and Paula’s Cornish country house comparing memories of the remarkable woman who has been so central to all their lives. It's not long before grief gives way to grievance.

If only Alan hadn’t accused Ed of appropriating his Beatles records. If only George hadn’t pointed out that he paid for Ed’s and Paula’s daughter’s upbringing. If only Ed hadn’t charged George with stealing his wife. If only George hadn’t read the private notes that Paula had made about all three of her three husbands and shared them with his volatile company.

But they did.

In the aftermath, Ed bleeds, Alan nearly drowns in the ornamental duckpond, and George finally cries. But when the sun goes down and the landscape lighting comes up, a flicker of enlightenment emerges.

George ….. Jonathan Pryce
Alan ….. Bill Paterson
Ed ….. Nicholas Le Prevost

Writer ….. John Burrows
Sound ….. Leon Chambers
Director ….. Jessica Dromgoole.
Producer ….. Catherine Bailey

A Catherine Bailey production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4