Brief Encounter

By Noël Coward

No l 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

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1350083577
• ISBN13: 9781350083578
• Release Date: March 2018
• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Originally entitled "Still Life."

The basic story is of a brief encounter between two people at a train station in post-war Britain. Each was married to someone else and committed to different lives. They fall in love, but it is a hopeless situation. How will they resolve this? Will they resolve this? What would you do in the situation? Reading the screenplay enhances the movie. You'll pick up details that were only implied in the film. Sheridan Morley's background introduction also explains how the short play, part of a series, became a classic movie. The book includes stills from the film. You'll find the screenplay just as moving as the movie; however, you'll need to supply your own copy of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 in C minor.