Farce 3 Acts ( London 1926)
The formidable Mrs Gertrude Twine has arranged with her sister, Clara, and brother-in-law Clive Popkiss, recently married, to bring their ailing mother for a holiday near her Somerset home. They are to be joined by Clive's cousin Gerald, but although Gerald has arrived, Clara and Clive have been delayed, and when Clive eventually arrives it is with the news that Clara and her mother have temporarily stayed behind.
Clive moves into Rookery Nook, which Mrs Twine has rented for their holiday, and is on the point of retiring when a pajama-clad young woman arrives on the doorstep, having been thrown out of her own nearby home by her stepfather.
By taking the young woman, Rhoda, into the house overnight, Clive unleashes the fury of the priggish Mrs Twine, and sets in train a frantic series of evasions by which he and Gerald try, with diminishing success, to forestall the old lady's discovery of Clive's innocent but compromising gesture. Together, they involve Mrs Twine's hen-pecked husband, Harold, her neighbour Admiral Juddy, and a local girl, Poppy Dickey, in their ham-fisted efforts to avoid Mrs Twine's wrath.
Although their efforts fail, and the truth becomes clear, Clive's kindness is vindicated when the genuine innocence of his helpfulness to Rhoda becomes clear even to Mrs Twine.
Characters
Mrs Twine
Gertrude Twine
Mrs Leverett
Harold Twine, Gertrude's husband
Clive Popkiss
Gerald Popkiss, Clive's cousin
Rhoda Marley
Putz, Rhoda's stepfather
Admiral Juddy
Poppy Dickey
Clara Popkiss, Clive's wife
Mrs Possett