Brief Encounter came up in conversation lately, and I realized, I’ve never seen the original Noel Coward play it was based on: Still Life. Here’s the script. It’s problematic. (Not as problematic as another of his works that was produced at the same time, which was staged once and then never saw daylight again.)
The problem is that it’s flat, and for a play about falling in love and passion vs social norms it falls heavily on the social norms side. The last words are “Thank you.” (And there’s no narration from Laura. Also, if you are wondering, they have been happily boning for ten weeks when the owner of the love nest interrupts them.)
I saw a few radio adaptions that tried to jazz up the ending. But one had a chilling ending.
[SPOILER] There was a new bit about how the Thursdays they spend together are the only “real” part of their lives, and then at the end when she’s walking at the train station, she says, in the same rhythm as the train, “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday…”
It’s just heartbreaking. I bet Noel Coward is just kicking himself in the afterlife.