Valentine Brown is trying to persuade Phoebe Throssel that age is no barrier to their romance. She might regret the decade that has passed since he abruptly left to fight in the Napoleonic wars, leaving their love unrequited, but he’s having none of it. “Instead of growing older you shall grow younger,” he says, promising to heal the wounds of time.
No prizes for guessing the playwright is JM Barrie. Two years after the 1902 premiere of Quality Street (a big enough hit to inspire a line of chocolates which were advertised using its characters), he wrote Peter Pan, the heartbreaking tale of a boy who wouldn’t grow old while his poor playmate aged. The loss of youth remained a preoccupation as late as 1920 when, in Mary Rose, he conjured up a woman who has vanished for 21 years without ageing a day.
In the case of Quality Street, given a sprightly, good-looking production by Liz Carruthers, the missing years have turned Fiona Wood’s Phoebe from a carefree debutante, all ringlets and good humour, to a serious-minded teacher, hair pinned back, ambitions curtailed. One minute, she’s provoking jealous barbs from her companions, the next, she’s settling down for a lifetime of buttoned-up spinsterhood. Only by going in disguise as her youthful niece in a vaguely Shakespearean ballroom scene can she reclaim her lost youth.
Barrie duly delivers a pleasant wish-fulfilment confection, its contours gentle and its spirit cheerful. With Alan Mirren as the floppy-haired love interest and Camrie Palmer as big sister Susan leading a sparky 14-strong cast, it looks every bit the Hollywood romcom, offering the same modest pleasures if not the darker reflections to which Barrie would return.
• At Pitlochry Festival theatre, until 12 October. Box office: 01796 484626.
