Play for Today (TV Series) Sunset Across the Bay (1975) User Reviews

deceptively simple play

[didi-5 · 8/10 · 5 September 2009]

Alan Bennett's play 'Sunset Across The Bay' looks simple on the surface: a character study of a long marriage which has settled into routine, where the wife has been a housewife and the husband a worker in engineering.

From the Leeds slums where they live - about to be demolished - to the seaside retirement flat at Morecambe, we see the old couple struggle to adjust to spending time together after a life where every day was the same.

As 'Dad' says, he's worked all his life to do nothing, and it's difficult for him to adjust.

Quietly simplistic but complex as well, 'Sunset Across The Bay' is a beautiful piece of work, and everything that drama produced today would not be. There's no great action sequences, no sex, violence, or swearing, no hand-held filming. It's completely believable and ordinary, and yet, this being Bennett, it is extraordinary as well.

The kind of thing the BBC did best in the days where they produced many plays each year: and the kind of thing which is sadly missed.

Lovely job by Alan Bennett and Stephan Frears

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 6 January 2013]

This 70 minute film for the BBC follows the quiet story of an older couple as they move from Leeds to the Seaside town of Morecombe after the husband retires.

Both quietly funny, and quite melancholy, the portraits of the couple is full of the kind of lovely, intimate moments and details that give us the feeling we're watching a real couple, abetted by terrific performances by the two leads; Harry Markham and Gabrielle Daye. Both are wonderfully understated, never falling into the trap of playing 'cute old folks'. Then young director Stephen Frears also does a terrific job at quietly modulating the piece, and creating visuals that feel cinematic, in spite of the intentionally claustrophobic nature of the tale.

This marriage is complex – they two are inextricably intertwined, they need each other, but there is also a distance that has come with time and habit. That tension between love and habitual need is dealt with great subtlety.

In his introduction to the piece on the BBC Box Set, Bennett makes it clear that the couple draws much from his real parents, who lived their whole lives in Leeds. He also reveals that Harry Markham, who is so good as the husband, wasn't a professional actor until very late in life, although he did a lot of amateur theater.

A simple, quiet, humorous and touching portrait of growing old in a society where being old can leave you an outsider, and a prisoner of the way you've always done things.

Beautifully sad and poignant

[bronwenwrigley · 9/10 · 1 October 2007]

I agree with the previous writer who said what a beautiful story this is. It is poignantly sad, with a nostalgic feel about the whole thing, not least in the setting - a decaying British seaside resort in the mid '70s. But what I cannot agree with is that the couple are still "very happy" with each other. On the contrary, I think one of the saddest things about the play is that they are clearly incredibly, almost intolerably BORED with each other. Yes, they have got used to being together, but that is part of the trouble. The lady has managed to convince herself that all is fine, because she has to believe it or what would have been the point of her life? - but the man's irritation is constantly bubbling under the surface of his old-fashioned decency and courtesy. In my opinion, Bennett has hit on one of the sad truths of human life: that a large number of people who stay married for decades do it just because there is literally nothing else to do.

A marvellous play for all kinds of reasons. But try not to take it merely at face value - there are numerous side issues such as the one I mentioned above. I just wish this kind of play was written nowadays, but sadly, good playwriting seems a lost art. The BBC's "Play For Today" was superb - now we have to endure Trinny and Susannah telling us what clothes to wear.

nostalgia, regret, loss, hope

[cloisterbell-1 · 10/10 · 30 September 2006]

Beautiful story of a couple who, upon the husband's retiring, move to Morecambe from Leeds. The story is simple enough, but the magic is in the dialog between the two main characters.

They obviously are still very happy with each other, but express regret and confusion at the way their world has changed. Leeds seems to be (literally) falling down around them as they leave town for their new home by the beach.

Their lives have changed so little since the husband started work in the 40s, that when it comes time to make this big change they find the whole world has changed around them.

It's quietly devastating.

simple request

[doug07 · 8/10 · 4 November 2008]

How can I get a DVD or video of the play for today named " Sunset across the Bay " Allan Bennet Play 1975 I am studying Allan Bennett at the moment and wish to view this play in either DVD or video format...I am based in Nottingham and would appreciate any help please Douglas MacDonald. I would appreciate an email reply as soon as possible and look forward to your reply. Thank you for your help and will be able to return the video or DVD as soon as possible...it is just for a class viewing during our particular session..it is being used as part of a class discussion for an adult education class for the Workers Educational Class in the Bramcote branch in the city of Nottingham.

Bittersweet tale of 1970's

[markb_ailey · 9/10 · 22 May 2024]

By turns nostalgic humorous and bleak this terrific example of Bennett's work depicts a couple entering their autumn years as a series of life's doors close behind them. Retirement , the upheaval of moving from a home of some 35 years , the ongoing reconstruction and disappearance of the city they once knew and that more buttoned up generations stoic attempts to try and make the best of what they had left. Repays repeated viewing in my view. His loyalty to his employer who didn't remember his name at his retirement , The clearance of the area they had lived in (probably perfectly good houses being demolished in favour of cheaply built Tower blocks) and the general feel that they where heading for an abyss of loneliness and tragedy.