IMAGINE Downton Abbey set in liberal east-coast America, and scripted by Oscar Wilde, and you have a hint of the sharpness of wit in Bench Theatre's latest production, which continues until tomorrow night.
The company is staging David Mamet's play, Boston Marriage, and director Mark Wakeman describes it as a wisecracking homage to the creator of The Importance of Being Earnest.
"Characters are vile to each other while apparently being exceedingly polite,' says the Bench's own prolific writer and director. 'It's like Downton on drugs!"
A Boston marriage is defined as a partnership in which two women live together, independent of male financial support - as Anna and Claire have done for many years in Mamet's play. But when one accepts the gift of an emerald necklace from a married admirer and the other announces she has fallen in love with someone else, a battle of wits begins.
The necklace brings with it a host of problems and the path to love and happiness lies through a minefield of farce.
Boston Marriage will be performed at the Spring Arts Centre in Havant.
Tickets: (023) 9247 2700 or from thespring.co.uk
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