The story of Ladies in Lavender is of two elderly sisters, both spinsters, who live together in an isolated seaside cottage in Cornwall. They live a quiet life together in the home that they inherited from their father many years previously. Their life is embedded in their routine; they rarely argue or disagree with each other. The few distractions to their routine consist of events such as a change of weather, something special for lunch or the occasional visitor. This does not immediately appear to be the basis of a love story.
As the play develops we see how one incident can change this and the characters experience various emotions with varying degrees of success which affects their relationship. Competitiveness, envy, jealousy and love in its many guises, are emotions of which they have little experience.
Love manifests itself in many ways and we naturally imagine that this is a wonderful joyous state to be in. But there is a love that is far from being wonderful. Unrequited love! – It is the feeling of being completely, hopelessly, desperately in love with someone yet unable to say anything, often clinging on to a romantic fairy tale idea of the situation, hoping that the feelings will never end but knowing that there is no hope of fulfilment.

From the Director – Alan Clarke