In Praise of Love

In Praise of Love is a play by British dramatist Terence Rattigan (1911-1977).

The original text
Originally entitled After Lydia, it is the first part of a double-bill play by the English playwright Terence Rattigan (the second half being Before Dawn, a burlesque of the opera Tosca) — it was the penultimate play he wrote and was inspired by the true-life relationship between Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, using characters named Sebastian and Lydia respectively and follows her illness and death.

Performance history in South Africa
1974: Produced by the Toerien-Firth Company with Ron Smerczak, Robert Flemyng, Robert Beatty and Muriel Pavlow at the Intimate Theatre in 1974.

1995: Staged in the Theatre on the Bay (a Pieter Toerien Production) in June 1995, directed by Maralin Vanrenen, with Jana Cilliers (Lydia), Rex Garner (Sebastian), Roger Dwyer (Mark) and Calvin Hayward (Joey). Set and lighting designed by Jannie Swanepoel. This production went to the Grahamstown Festival (1995).

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