To Have and To Hold [Paperback]

He talks about going to Switzerland, to that place where you pay them to kill you& And I say go! It'll do you good. Broaden your horizons&you've never been abroad!

After sixty years of marriage, happily settled into their retirement village in Yorkshire, Jack and Florence have elevated bickering almost to the status of high art. That said, they're otherwise getting along fine with the support of a cousin and the hilarious interventions of the man known locally as 'Rhubarb Eddie'. But will their anxious son, shuttling between London and LA, and their errant daughter, contemplating a move to Australia, leave them to live out their days in peace?

Richard Bean's uproarious new comedy tackles the prickly problem of dealing with ageing parents who just don't want to be dealt with. This edition was published to coincide the world premiere at London's Hampstead Theatre, in October, 2023.

Richard Bean: In 2011 Richard became the first playwright to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for two plays,The HereticandOne Man, Two Guvnors. The New York production ofOne Man, Two Guvnorswas awarded the 2012 Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play. His credits includeKiss Me(Hampstead),The Nap(Sheffield Crucible),Great Britain(National Theatre),Made in Dagenham: The Musical(Adelphi Theatre) andPitcairn(Chichester Minerva Theatre/Shakespeare's Globe). Richard's other work includesUnder the Whaleback(Royal Court. George Devine Award 2002),The Heretic(The Royal Court. Evening Standard Best New Play 2011),Honeymoon Suite(Pearson Play of the Year),Harvest(Critic's Circle Best New Play),The House of Games(from David Mamet's film), a new version of Moliere'sThe Hypochondriac,The Big Fellah(Out of Joint),England People Very Nice(National Theatre),The Mentalists(National Theatre),The English Game(HlS/