Performance - Season 2

Among the residents of Los Angeles during the 40s were Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Bertolt Brecht and, according to this play, the Austro-Hungarian dramatist Odon Von Horvath, our guide to the sun-soaked boulevards and the bizarre cultural collisions of wartime Hollywood.

Nora, tired of being patronised and casually discounted by her husband, rebels against him and by doing so discovers a whole new personality within herself.

Beatie returns to her family home in Norfolk, having been "educated" in cultural and political matters by Ronnie, the boyfriend she lived with in London. Through trying to pass on the things she's learnt to her uninterested family, she discovers her own voice and views - which are no longer just an echo of Ronnie's.

David and Joan's life has been one continuous party, but their marriage is loveless. Suddenly a young girl appears in their world and announces that she's in love with David and wants to change his life for ever.

The great iron door of the studio swings open. In the light stands a family. The father walks up to the director and says, "Excuse me, we are looking for an author." The family carry with them a great personal tragedy of shame and despair, and have come to the studio to find somebody who can describe their experiences and explain what they've done to each other.