Down the Line and The Admirable Crichton (Annotated)

Down the Line is an updated version of Barrie’s classic play ‘The Admirable Crichton’ written  for and first performed at the 100th Anniversary Celebration in 2002.  In a world where Butlers have become bodyguards and lady’s maids are personal assistants, and where celebrity has replaced money as the criteria for ‘aristocracy’ we are asked to consider how much has really changed. 

Caroline Carter, pop princess, is about to announce her engagement to her footballer boyfriend. Leaving Steve behind for a match, she sets off in advance to prepare for their engagement party on a yacht. She takes her father, sister, PA, bodyguard, best man and a photographer along with her. When their boat is shipwrecked on a desert island, their carefully developed social hierarchy begins to disintegrate as survival becomes a question of knowledge and skill rather than of money and power. As romance begins to blossom, is it true that ‘what’s natural is right?’

Down the Line stays true to the original in its intent but updates the characters and their island experience, throwing them into an alien environment, distant from the ephemera essential to gratifying their sense of importance in our celebrity obsessed culture. This updated comedy of manners and class poses interesting social questions, much as the original play did in 1902.

This omnibus ebook edition includes
• Full text of Down the Line
• Full text of The Admirable Crichton
• Introduction
• Information about 100th Anniversary Celebration event