About the work
A three-act play by British dramatist John Boynton Priestley, first performed on 26 August 1937 at the Duchess Theatre in London. It belongs to Priestley's series of so-called "time plays", inspired by J. W. Dunne's theory that past, present and future exist simultaneously.
Plot
On daughter Kay's 21st birthday in 1919, the affluent Conway family celebrates the end of the First World War full of hope for the future. Act two jumps forward eighteen years to a present in which the family's fortune, marriages and dreams have collapsed, before act three returns to the opening evening of 1919.
Cultural significance
The play's nested time structure makes it one of the most distinctive examples of British inter-war social drama. It is regularly named alongside "An Inspector Calls" as one of Priestley's finest "time plays".