Drama (Stephen)

Trevor Eve, Geraldine James, Richard E Grant and Tom Ellis get caught in the blurred lines between real-life and fiction

Trevor Eve and Geraldine James star as a couple who have a partnership both at work and home. An actress in a hugely successful TV series written by her husband Robert (Eve), Liz (James) finds herself depicting a relationship in crisis; that is, her own marriage.

Turning a blind eye to her husband’s affairs, it is only on screen with co-star Stephen (Grant) that Liz has the conversations she should be having in her personal life. Robert uses the show as a platform to explain where and why he thinks the marriage went awry, but Liz’s inability to act as he instructs displays how disparate their feelings about the situation are.

As co-worker Bill (Ellis) tries to convince her to leave Robert, the future is uncertain for the relationship on both sides of the camera. Neither party are blameless, but what emerges is that they have not grown apart because of a lack of love. Companionship and a shared history have been created after 30 years together, but personal respect has decayed with time.

With the distinction between life and art unclear, honesty and awareness are hard to locate.