A Day by the Sea

[2] It is set in and near the Dorset country house of Laura Anson, a brisk and sensible elderly woman, determined to keep the family home going, though worried that once she is dead nobody will succeed her in this.

The governess, Miss Mathieson, despairs of finding a husband and makes an unsuccessful attempt to engage the affections of the bibulous but shrewd Dr Farley.

[9] The play was revived in London at the Finborough Theatre in 2008, directed by Tom Cooper, with a cast including Juliet Ackroyd, Lucy Russell, Romy Tennant and Stephen Omer.

[11] The second adaptation, by the BBC (1964) starred Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies (Laura), Robert Flemyng (Julian), Rachel Gurney (Frances), Felix Aylmer (David), and Gene Anderson (Miss Mathieson).

The first, produced by Val Gielgud, featured Robert Eddison (Julian), Gladys Young (Laura), Gwen Cherrell (Frances), John Turnbull (David), Belle Chrystall (Miss Mathieson) and Brewster Mason (Dr Farley).

[14] The second starred Wendy Hiller (Laura), Richard Pasco (Julian), Alan Wheatley (David), Michael Hordern (Dr Farley) and Barbara Leigh Hunt (Frances).

elderly white woman standing, holding a tray, middle aged white man standing next to her, and middle aged white man, bespectacled, sitting at a table, holding a newspaper
Sybil Thorndike , Frederick Piper and John Gielgud in the original 1953 production