Purvis

Life-changing meetings can happen in the oddest of places: in this case, the vestry of a C of E church is the scene. Uptight, downtrodden Rachel, the vicar's wife, chats to recently-widowed Mr Purvis there and is rather cornered into offering him the post of the church's Health and Safety Officer. The consequences are unexpected: Purvis is keen but, frankly, causes more problems than he solves, the vicar being the prime victim of his misguided attempts to make things safer, and Rachel, though exasperated and embarrassed by Purvis, grows in self-confidence as their friendship deepens. Funny, touching and wry, this play for two actors is an example of comedy writing at its very best.