After Midnight - Before Dawn and Rose and Crown

This show comprises two one act plays with a common theme - that of human fallibility when faced with a supernatural force.

In After Midnight - Before Dawn by David Campton, set in the late 17th Century, a group of six women are confined in a prison cell awaiting execution at dawn for witchcraft. All except one are extremely fearful of the gallows which awaits them; when they question her calm demeanour she replies that she is in fact a disciple of Satan, and that the devil will look after his own; she is certain that she will not hang. The others - unjustly accused of witchcraft - conclude that she is indeed a witch, and beg her to tell them how they too may gain Satan’s protection. Only one of them protests that this is truly sinful, and in desperation they turn on her and kill her. In the end, the forecast of the ‘calm woman’ comes true, when she tells them that she offered them no guarantee of safety, and they turn on her and kill her too. She will not hang; her prophecy is fulfilled.

In The Rose and Crown by J.B. Priestley, originally written for television in 1947, a group of regular customers are gathered in the bar of their local pub. They are all pretty depressed about the state of the country and their lives, this being during the years of biting post-war austerity. In the midst of their moans and arguments they are joined by a stranger, who stands and observes them. The customers suddenly realise that the room is isolated, and it is impossible for them to leave. On being questioned, the stranger announces that he is the Angel of Death, and having missed out on one of the day’s quota, needs one of the pub’s occupants to take their place. They all protest that it couldn’t possibly be one of them, but the Angel replays time to let them listen to their moans about life, and is adamant that a volunteer must come forward. Which one it will be is eventually revealed, and the Angel makes off with the volunteer, returning the pub to its previous state.