Two plays explore different sides of the jeopardies to marital happiness

11 December 2025, The Tablet

Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves in End

Mark Brenner

An old play and a new one feature two London married couples almost a century apart, separated not just by time but class.

Fallen Angels
MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY, LONDON

End
DORFMAN, NATIONAL THEATRE, LONDON

In 1925, Julia and Fred Sterroll have been wed for 10 years but, over breakfast in their art deco apartment above Park Lane, they conclude that the passion has left their marriage – a situation exacerbated by the arrival of a postcard from Julia’s former French lover, announcing his impending visit to the capital. In 2016, fifty-something Julie and Alfie have been together for 35 years in their terraced house in Haringey, north London. A few years back, Alfie survived cancer; but it has returned and spread and, as they discuss over a breakfast he is too weak to eat, he has just told the specialist he wishes to cease treatment.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

Subscribe for unlimited access

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login

Article end