Before the Party is a comic satire, starring and directed by Tom Conti. He chats to Kate Randerson as he brings the play to the New Victoria Theatre
The scene is 1949. A well-to-do family tries to adjust to post-war Britain, while cook struggles with the challenges of rationing. We join Aubrey Skinner (Conti) as he and his wife and daughters prepare for their latest social outing. They're interrupted by middle daughter Laura, home from Africa, widowed but not alone, who discloses a dark secret.
Tom Conti, one of Britain’s most well-respected actors, first directed Before The Party in the West End in 1980. A Rodney Ackland play based on a Somerset Maugham short story, it's a comedic satire of snobbery and social climbing. Back in the director's chair, Conti's bringing it to the Theatre Royal in Windsor - “a lovely, people-friendly building – no bad seats!”
“Why cannot our houses be run like other people’s houses?” is Conti’s favourite line. “Of course, that’s what we all think,” he says. “The family try so hard to do the right thing – but often, of course, it’s the opposite.”
He now also leads the cast, alongside Gwen Taylor and Elizabeth Payne. Isn’t it a challenge, directing and starring? Conti says not. “People think there’s some magic to directing, and there really isn’t. I have the final decision, but we all do it together.”
Before the Party is at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking from Sept 21-26
