Sir Hector Benbow invites Cherry, a pretty shop assistant, to dine. Arriving home, he finds not only Cherry but Mrs Frush, to whom he has rented Thark, his niece’s Norfolk house. Mrs Frush complains Thark is haunted. To distract Lady Benbow's attention from Cherry, he suggests everyone go to Thark, which lives up to its spine-chilling reputation. A wild night, sinister butler and plethora of romantic mix-ups add to the lively proceedings.
I must say, Ben Travers holds up shockingly well to modern standards. Yes, the dialogue is a bit dated at times, like Coward, but he understands how to generate humour. The combination of mistaken identities, sorded affairs and a haunted house was a brilliant way to generate humour. This might be one of the earliest black farces, although it starts as if it it were a bedroom farce.