Character guide

Judith Bliss

major

Also known as Judith, Judith Myra Arundel, Myra Arundel, Judith David, Judith Tyrell, Judith Airily, Judith Nonsense, Judith Sharply

Judith runs the household as a stage, learning flower names by heart and tapping the barometer when a plan is brewing. Her children distrust her 'Squire's lady' moods, and her husband is too buried in his novel to notice. She is the engine of the weekend's chaos: every guest is potential audience, every game a chance to perform, and her need for drama will collide with everyone else's private schemes.

David Bliss

major

Also known as David, David Rising, David Do, David The Sinful Woman, David Reading, David Smug

David presides over a house strewn with his son's cartoons and his wife's theatrics, but his real address is the library and whatever book he is writing. He surfaces mainly to complain that everybody talks too much, then drifts back to work while Judith schemes and the children bicker. His obliviousness is both comic and structural: the one person who might referee the weekend is permanently elsewhere, leaving the guests to the Bliss family's mercy.

Sorel Bliss

major

Also known as Sorel, Sorel Richard Greatham, Sorel Mother, Sorel Furiously, Sorel Collapsing, Sorel Father, Sorel Ssshhh, Sorel Clara, Sorel Pained, Sorel Reading

Sorel lounges on the sofa mocking a friend's florid poetry while privately wishing she were a normal, bouncing English girl with a passion for games. She has invited Richard Greatham down without telling her brother, and she knows exactly what her mother's barometer-tapping forebodes. Sharp where Simon is dreamy, she becomes the household's reluctant truth-teller as the weekend's romantic cross-purposes multiply.

Simon Bliss

major

Also known as Simon, Simon Crossly, Simon Rising, Simon Gently, Simon Severely, Simon Bitterly, Simon Myra Arundel, Simon Thank God, Simon Kissing Judith, Simon No, Simon Mother, Simon Hallo

Simon sprawls in a dirty tennis shirt amid his cartoons and sheet music, cheerfully ignorant of the diplomat his sister has invited and mildly annoyed she didn't say so. He is flirtatious, distractible, and entirely at home in a house where nobody behaves normally. His casual magnetism draws the weekend's female guests toward him, quietly setting up the romantic collisions that will detonate around the dinner table.

Myra Arundel

major

Also known as Myra, Myra Charming, Myra Rising, Myra Dear Simon, Myra Generous boy, Myra Laughing, Myra Acidly, Myra Clara, Myra Sorel, Myra Wrong

Myra submits to Judith's party games with acid asides about the hostess's professional advantages, then refuses to continue when the spotlight shifts. She is charming, calculating, and unimpressed by Bliss theatrics, which makes her both a rival to Judith and a hazard to everyone else. Her pursuit of Simon and her cool sparring with the family keep the weekend's emotional weather unstable from the moment she arrives.

Richard Greatham

supporting

Also known as Richard, Richard Who, Richard Rising, Richard Mrs. Arundel, Richard Alarmed, Mr. Greatham

Richard arrives as Sorel's guest, a well-known diplomatist expected to be impressed by the Blisses and to impress them in turn. Instead he is drafted into Judith's parlour games, mishears the word, and gets scolded for doing the wrong charade. His stiff, courteous bewilderment is the audience's way in: the more properly he behaves, the more the Bliss household exposes its beautiful, alarming strangeness.

Sandy Tyrell

supporting

Also known as Sandy, Sandy Shaking hands, Sandy Puzzled, Sandy Sorry, Sandy Startled, Sandy Hic, Sandy The Blisses, Sandy Surprised, Sandy Tyrell—everybody, Sandy Righto, Sandy Eagerly

A hungry young boxer who raids the breakfast table, gets hiccups, and finds himself engaged to Sorel before he knows what happened.

Jackie Coryton

supporting

Also known as Jackie, Jackie Judith Bliss, Jackie Desperately, Jackie Giggling, Jackie Dragging, Jackie Sniffing, Jackie Worried, Jackie Italy, Jackie Neither could I., Miss Coryton, Coryton

A nervous young guest who weeps over breakfast, trades horror stories with Sandy, and wishes she had never set foot in the Bliss house.

Pam

minor

Also known as that little Pam

A young woman mentioned by the Blisses as a potential romantic interest for Simon.

Mr. Bliss

minor

Also known as Father

The elderly father of David Bliss, who appears briefly in the household.

Clara

minor

Also known as Clara Surprised, Clara One, Clara ’ Allo, Clara—I

The Bliss family's maid, who observes the guests' antics with quiet bemusement.

Jane Sefton

minor

A friend mentioned in conversation, not seen on stage.

Amy

minor

A servant or acquaintance briefly referenced in the household.