"I think one should make allowances for all these young things who are faced with problems we never dreamed of."
A warm September afternoon in an idyllic English village. Tea is served on the terrace. Sounds of a tennis party float across the lawn. But this England has no place for the heroes of the First World War. No jobs to sustain them, no mantelpieces for their medals, and no money for their debts. Against the odds, three sisters must carve new paths in an uncertain world.
Exploring the themes of desire, frustration and hope,
Somerset Maugham's sharply observed 1932 Chekhovian masterpiece, For Services Rendered launches Jermyn Street Theatre's Memories Season this September. This is the play's first London revival since it was seen at the
Old Vic in 1993, and the
National Theatre in 1979.
Tom Littler said: "September marks Jermyn Street Theatre's twenty-fifth birthday, and we are celebrating with a season of plays chosen to reflect the idea of memories. For Services Rendered is a remarkable piece of writing, and it caused a scandal in 1932. At a time of national division, a widening wealth gap, and a dearth of opportunity for the young, it is not hard to see the parallels between the world of the early 1930s and that of today. Maugham's play will be set in its own time, but it has plenty to say about our own."
Full casting to be announced.
Somerset Maugham was among the most successful novelists and playwrights of the inter-war years. Many of his novels, including The Painted Veil, Up at the Villa and Of Human Bondage, have been adapted for screen. His theatre works include The Circle, The Letter, and Sheppey.
Tom Littler is Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre, where his recent productions have included Pictures of Dorian Gray, Creditors, Miss Julie, The Blinding Light and Tonight at 8.30.
Jermyn Street Theatre is an art-house theatre in the heart of London's West End. The 70-seat studio opened in 1994, and has since won numerous awards and transferred many productions to the West End and Broadway. In summer 2017
Tom Littler became Artistic Director. Littler relaunched the venue as a producing house. Since then it has forged partnerships with theatres in New York, Munich, Frankfurt, Newbury, York, Guildford, Oxford, Cumbria and York, producing over fifteen world premieres alongside several rediscoveries. Jermyn Street Theatre is a signatory to the Equity Fringe Agreement and committed to equal gender representation. In its first two years as a producing house, over 53% of actors and 60% of production teams have been female.
Jermyn Street Theatre's Memories Season which runs from September 2019 to January 2020. In addition to the revival of
Somerset Maugham's For Services Rendered, it comprises the world premiere of Ice Cream Boys by Gail Louw (9th October - 2nd November), Artistic Director
Tom Littler's production of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well (6th November to 30th November) and the London premiere of the acclaimed
Watermill Theatre's production of One Million Plays About Britain by
Craig Taylor (2nd December to 11th January).
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