Timeshare
Philip Ayckbourn
Genre: Comedy
Cast size: 7
Duration: Two Act
Philip Ayckbourn | Comedy | Full-length | 3m, 4f or 2m, 3f with doubling)
Short synopsis
- Synopsis
- Characters
- Reviews
Set present day, thirty years in the past and thirty years in the future. Eddie and Paula arrive at their long-time Spanish island timeshare property to discuss the future of their precarious marriage. Due to the unfortunate electrocution of the property’s maintenance man Miguel, a fissure in the time-space continuum results in them coming face to face with their younger selves who are there for the first time.
After their initial shock, older Paula and Eddie see this as a perfect opportunity to alter their past – and consequently their present and future – by convincing their younger selves not to stay together, but instead to pursue the dreams and loves they themselves didn’t. However, younger Paula and Eddie don’t want to be told what to do by their older selves. Older Paula and Eddie need to find more persuasive arguments.
When Miguel’s daughter, the beautiful and feisty Marina, turns up unexpectedly – thirty years in the past – older Eddie and Paula need to pass themselves off as Eddie’s parents. This only complicates matters further. Older Eddie and Paula however believe Marina could be the possible persuasive argument they were looking for. After a particularly nasty argument between younger Paula and Eddie, younger Paula storms out to stay in a local hotel and younger Eddie heads off to Marina’s beach birthday party.
Events lead to a showdown later at the property and Marina is seen off the premises by the jilted younger Paula. The sudden disappearance of younger Paula and Eddie is followed by the appearance of Paula and Eddie’s eighty-three year old future selves. Their future selves have undergone a remarkable rejuvenating procedure due to the wonders of future science. They confirm that Paula and Eddie have indeed stuck together despite their present rocky times. Although the older couple hint to the fact that the road ahead of them is by no means a straight one.
A comedy about love, marriage and the chance to do it all again... but better.
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