Dangerous Corner

Dangerous Corner was the first play by the English writer J. B. Priestley. It was premiered in May 1932 by Tyrone Guthrie at the Lyric Theatre, London, and filmed in 1934 by Phil Rosen.

Priestley had recently collaborated with Edward Knoblock on the dramatisation of The Good Companions and now wished "to prove that a man might produce long novels and yet be able to write effectively, using the strictest economy, for the stage." While it was praised highly by James Agate, Dangerous Corner received extremely poor reviews and after three days he was told that the play would be taken off, a fate that he averted by buying out the syndicate. It then ran for six months. Priestley's action was further vindicated by the worldwide success the play was to enjoy, although he soon lowered his estimate of this work and as early as 1938 remarked "It is pretty thin stuff when all is said and done."

Robert and Freda Caplan are entertaining guests at their country retreat. A chance remark by one of the guests ignites a series of devastating revelations, revealing a hitherto undiscovered tangle of clandestine relationships and dark secrets, the disclosures of which have tragic consequences. The play ends with time slipping back to the beginning of the evening and the chance remark not being made, the secrets remaining hidden and the "dangerous corner" avoided.

The play begins in darkness with a muffled gunshot and scream. Lights are turned on to reveal a drawing-room containing four women who have been listening to a radio play after dinner. Two of them, Freda and Betty, are the wives of directors of a publishing firm. A close friend, Olwen joins them with Maud Mockridge, a novelist.

Their chat has turned to the suicide the previous year of Freda's brother-in-law Martin Caplan when they are interrupted by the entry of the husbands, Robert and Gordon, along with Charles, who works at the firm. They discuss whether it's best to always reveal the complete truth; Robert argues that it is, while Charles believes that doing so is dangerous. Gordon tries to find some dance music on the radio, but it stops working. Freda offers Olwen a cigarette from a musical box which Olwen recognizes as having belonged to Martin. Freda insists that Olwen couldn't have seen the box before because Martin hadn't had it when last Olwen saw him. Olwen accepts Freda's correction and the matter is about to be dropped, but Robert detects that Olwen, despite her verbal acquiescence, isn't really convinced. He pushes the women to be honest about their disagreement. In examining the question of how Olwen could have previously seen Martin's cigarette box, each woman reveals that she has been keeping secret the fact that she had visited Martin shortly before his death. At this point, with tensions rising, Maud takes her leave, and soon all the guests depart except Olwen.

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