THE DOWAGER'S OYSTER

A new operetta after a short story by the composer

Premiering at the Grimeborn Festival 2016

The Arcola Theatre

WORDS JACK CHERRY

MUSIC LOUIS MANDER

SYNOPSIS

England/France/Morocco. 1924

Cynthia and her aged mother Lady Tindale (the Dowager) are about to embark on a summer holiday to the French island of Oleron. Freddy, Cynthia's fiancé cannot join them as he will be summering in Morocco, (unbeknownst only to her) with his gay lover Christopher. On their journey (accompanied by her recalcitrant handmaiden Genevieve) by ferry to France, the Dowager and Cynthia happen to bump into two old friends, Marta and Karl Grinzig, who are the cause for much gossip and speculation. The universally despised Dowager comes to a sticky end at lunch and the holidaymakers are all considered suspects in the eyes of the pompous and astute Dr. Gibaud, whose services are called upon to solve the murder. Farce, intrigue and suspects abound...But whodunnit?