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Brief Encounter
Noël Coward's Brief Encounter is remembered as one of the most haunting love stories on screen ever. Drawing on the characteristic wit and musicality of Kneehigh, Emma Rice, former Joint Artistic Director of the Company, has adapted Coward's classic 1945 screenplay, and the one-act play Still Life on which it was based, into a richly theatrical, imaginative and vibrant piece of theatre.
From an original idea by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, Kneehigh's production received its world premiere in 2008. This edition is published to coincide with the production's run live at the Empire Cinema in London's West End for 2018, co-produced by Steve and Jenny Wiener and The Old Vic.
With an updated foreword by Emma Rice.
'Surely the most enchanting work of stagecraft ever inspired by a movie.' Ben Brantley, The New York Times
'Moving, funny, gripping and even at its most inventive, true to the original and its all-English heart' The Times
From an original idea by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, Kneehigh's production received its world premiere in 2008. This edition is published to coincide with the production's run live at the Empire Cinema in London's West End for 2018, co-produced by Steve and Jenny Wiener and The Old Vic.
With an updated foreword by Emma Rice.
'Surely the most enchanting work of stagecraft ever inspired by a movie.' Ben Brantley, The New York Times
'Moving, funny, gripping and even at its most inventive, true to the original and its all-English heart' The Times
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
4 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Noël Coward
425 books215 followersSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. Among his achievements, he received an Academy Certificate of Merit at the 1943 Academy Awards for "outstanding production achievement for In Which We Serve."
Known for his wit, flamboyance, and personal style, his plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. The former Albery Theatre (originally the New Theatre) in London was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in his honour in 2006.
Known for his wit, flamboyance, and personal style, his plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. The former Albery Theatre (originally the New Theatre) in London was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in his honour in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 5, 2017
This is a heartbreaking love story between two people who know they can't be together.
Laura is a married middle-class wife. Alec is a married doctor. They meet briefly at the refreshment room of a train station when something gets into her eye and he helps her. Since then, a couple of casual encounters take place until the day they spend a few hours together and realize they have fallen in love.
It's marvellous to see how Noël Coward displays such a beautiful, passionate (and ultimately unfulfilled) romance in barely 60 pages. The last scene is simply heartbreaking.
Laura is a married middle-class wife. Alec is a married doctor. They meet briefly at the refreshment room of a train station when something gets into her eye and he helps her. Since then, a couple of casual encounters take place until the day they spend a few hours together and realize they have fallen in love.
It's marvellous to see how Noël Coward displays such a beautiful, passionate (and ultimately unfulfilled) romance in barely 60 pages. The last scene is simply heartbreaking.
March 12, 2015
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Blurb - Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard created the roles of housewife and doctor in the 1945 film adaptation of Noel Coward's classic tale of forbidden love. Jenny Seagrove now stars as Laura Jesson with Nigel Havers as Dr. Alec Harvey. This particular radio version is very faithful to Coward's original screenplay and has been locked in the BBC vaults since 1947. It is to be performed as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the BBC's Maida Vale studios, long associated with radio drama.
Jenny Seagrove and Nigel Havers star in a special production of Brief Encounter, live from the BBC's Maida Vale studios.
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Blurb - Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard created the roles of housewife and doctor in the 1945 film adaptation of Noel Coward's classic tale of forbidden love. Jenny Seagrove now stars as Laura Jesson with Nigel Havers as Dr. Alec Harvey. This particular radio version is very faithful to Coward's original screenplay and has been locked in the BBC vaults since 1947. It is to be performed as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the BBC's Maida Vale studios, long associated with radio drama.
Jenny Seagrove and Nigel Havers star in a special production of Brief Encounter, live from the BBC's Maida Vale studios.
work laptop download
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2019
Nobody can nail an ending like Emma Rice.
December 14, 2018
Will forever be the most heartbreaking short play I’ve read. There’s so much pain between Alec and Laura, so much that they both share, and it’s so painfully quick. Their meetings are so brief and their relation developed so quickly and intensely, but they have no time. Alec’s line “there’s no time at all” always breaks my heart, the bell announcing the trains’ arrivals makes me physically wince for Alec and Laura, and the Rachimanov Piano Concerto No 2 encapsulates the intensity of their meetings. The express train rushing through, never stopping at the station, is such a painful reminder of how short-lived their encounter was. I’d wish for it to be longer, but that would detract from the whole fleeting encounter.
December 30, 2019
Read about this in One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson. "It was an era in history that Martin felt particularly drawn to, the monochrome deprivation of it, the undertow of seedy disappointment in the wake of heroism. The Vienna of The Third Man, the Home Counties of Brief Encounter ."
January 9, 2018
The script format (of sorts) of one of my favorite movies and it still breaks my heart every.damn.time.
April 27, 2021
Short & sweet💕 quite dated, but romantic nonetheless.
July 31, 2025
Tragic accidental romance between two average middle-aged people who meet while waiting for a train.
Want to read
March 15, 2013Added 3/15/13.
I did not read this book but I saw both movies. One from 1945 and the other from 1974. See my notes below:
=======================================
"The 1945 screenplay is by Noël Coward, and is based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life. The soundtrack of the 1945 screenplay prominently features the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff." [from Wiki]
"Based on Noel Coward's classic film and play about a chance meeting, this is a story of innocence and unexpected love." [from the Amazon instant video description via ROKU]
BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945 and also 1974)
Brief Encounter (1945) (with Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/?...
"Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband."
Brief Encounter (TV 1974) (with Richard Burton and Sophia Loren)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071247/?...
"Two strangers, both married to others, meet in a railroad station and find themselves in a brief but intense affair. "
QUOTES:
Burton, Richard AS Alec Harvey: "It's one thing to close a window. It's another thing to slam it on my fingers."
Sophis Loren: "Loving each other isn't enough. Other things matter. Decency. Self-respect. It all seemed so innocent to start with."
=====================================
FURTHER REMARKS:
3/15/13 - I just finished watching "A Touch of Class" (1973) with George Segal and Glenda Jackson.
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070819/?...
"Romantic comedy about a pair of clandestine lovers in a London-Spain tryst."
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/A-Touch-...
"Glenda Jackson collected an Oscar for her sterling performance as a shrewd British fashion designer who falls for married insurance adjuster Steve Blackburn (George Segal). Their liaison begins swimmingly, but a succession of comic pitfalls complicate matters. Those include a meddling friend (Paul Sorvino), a coupe with clutch problems and Segal's dislocated back, leading to what started as a run-of-the-mill affair ending on an unexpected note."
Strangely enough, this film echoes the plot of "Brief Encounter", but in an entirely different way. It's meant as a comedy but in the sub-text, there's a lot more to it. Glenda Jackson won an oscar as best actress. She won a Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actress (comedy). George Segal won a Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actore (comedy).
Below are lyrics to a song from the movie, written by Shirley Bassey.
The lyrics tell the whole story behind all the plots mentioned above:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG: "All that love went to waste"
Lyrics from movie, "A touch of Class", (1973) Starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson, song by Shirley Bassey.
http://zeezeewriter.multiply.com/jour....
===========================
We were close to it all.
Caught the rainbows we chased.
Then we watched the sky fall.
All that love went to waste.
What we had was the end,
It could not be erased.
That's the pity my friend,
All that love went to waste.
If we only could have guessed
that it couldn't stand the test
we'd have played it all for jest
And have been each other guest.
We'd have smiled and strolled away
while it was still was light and gay,
but now here's that rainy day.
If we'd held back a bit...
every time we embraced
We'd have saved some of it.
If we just walked, instead of raced,
and just made love, instead of haste.
That lovely love
might never have gone to waste.
If we held back a bit,
every time we embraced,
we would have saved some of it.
If we just walked, instead of raced, and just made love instead of haste.. that lovely love might never have gone to waste.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I did not read this book but I saw both movies. One from 1945 and the other from 1974. See my notes below:
=======================================
"The 1945 screenplay is by Noël Coward, and is based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life. The soundtrack of the 1945 screenplay prominently features the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff." [from Wiki]
"Based on Noel Coward's classic film and play about a chance meeting, this is a story of innocence and unexpected love." [from the Amazon instant video description via ROKU]
BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945 and also 1974)
Brief Encounter (1945) (with Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/?...
"Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband."
Brief Encounter (TV 1974) (with Richard Burton and Sophia Loren)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071247/?...
"Two strangers, both married to others, meet in a railroad station and find themselves in a brief but intense affair. "
QUOTES:
Burton, Richard AS Alec Harvey: "It's one thing to close a window. It's another thing to slam it on my fingers."
Sophis Loren: "Loving each other isn't enough. Other things matter. Decency. Self-respect. It all seemed so innocent to start with."
=====================================
FURTHER REMARKS:
3/15/13 - I just finished watching "A Touch of Class" (1973) with George Segal and Glenda Jackson.
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070819/?...
"Romantic comedy about a pair of clandestine lovers in a London-Spain tryst."
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/A-Touch-...
"Glenda Jackson collected an Oscar for her sterling performance as a shrewd British fashion designer who falls for married insurance adjuster Steve Blackburn (George Segal). Their liaison begins swimmingly, but a succession of comic pitfalls complicate matters. Those include a meddling friend (Paul Sorvino), a coupe with clutch problems and Segal's dislocated back, leading to what started as a run-of-the-mill affair ending on an unexpected note."
Strangely enough, this film echoes the plot of "Brief Encounter", but in an entirely different way. It's meant as a comedy but in the sub-text, there's a lot more to it. Glenda Jackson won an oscar as best actress. She won a Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actress (comedy). George Segal won a Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actore (comedy).
Below are lyrics to a song from the movie, written by Shirley Bassey.
The lyrics tell the whole story behind all the plots mentioned above:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONG: "All that love went to waste"
Lyrics from movie, "A touch of Class", (1973) Starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson, song by Shirley Bassey.
http://zeezeewriter.multiply.com/jour....
===========================
We were close to it all.
Caught the rainbows we chased.
Then we watched the sky fall.
All that love went to waste.
What we had was the end,
It could not be erased.
That's the pity my friend,
All that love went to waste.
If we only could have guessed
that it couldn't stand the test
we'd have played it all for jest
And have been each other guest.
We'd have smiled and strolled away
while it was still was light and gay,
but now here's that rainy day.
If we'd held back a bit...
every time we embraced
We'd have saved some of it.
If we just walked, instead of raced,
and just made love, instead of haste.
That lovely love
might never have gone to waste.
If we held back a bit,
every time we embraced,
we would have saved some of it.
If we just walked, instead of raced, and just made love instead of haste.. that lovely love might never have gone to waste.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 5, 2016
Tak jednoduchý příběh a tak složitá hra. Dokážu si představit, že sedím v hledišti a na mé smysly útočí tenhle mix obyčejnosti, emocí a hudby namíchaný s takovou nápaditostí, s jakou jsem se snad ještě nesetkala. Je to neuvěřitelně dynamické, ale stránky knížky nedokáží zprostředkovat tolik vjemů najednou. Na papíře to působí chaoticky a sekaně. Je těžké se zorientovat, jednotlivé linie jsou neustále přetrhávány. Prokousat se až na konec dalo námahu, i přesto jak je to krátké. Tím ani v nejmenším nenaznačuji, že by hra byla špatná, naopak, hra je výborná, ale až jeviště nebo filmové plátno ji opravdu přivedou k životu.
June 17, 2012
A very quick listen. It's an intense read with strong tension between the two characters. You really feel their pain about loving each other and not being able to be together. It's very poignant and very beautiful. You can understand why people love the film itself. A lovely story.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews