84 Charing Cross Road (2011)

The play is a dramatisation of the letters between a struggling writer in New York and an antiquarian bookseller in London. In 1949, Helene Hanff, in search of obscure books unavailable locally, contacted Frank Doel, the manager of Marks and Co, a bookshop in Charing Cross Road. A long distance relationship developed between the brash American and the reserved manager, which extended to his staff, and lasted 20 years. This true story of their correspondence included many literary discussions as well as the exchange of gifts as Helene eased the shortages of post WWII England with her food parcels and holiday packages. Sadly, Helene postponed her proposed visit to London for too long and Frank died in 1968. She wrote a book about their correspondence and, by then a successful writer, eventually visited the shop in 1971.

It is a very warm and moving story of a long distance loving relationship of two people who never met. Helene has a dry wit and never ending enthusiasm, and teases Frank out of his stiff formality into an affectionate relationship, which sparkles and makes entertaining watching as the letters and books ingeniously travel across the Atlantic and the stage! The fact that it is a true story makes it so much more poignant.