Between the Acts

It describes the mounting, performance, and audience of a festival play (hence the title) in a small English village just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Much of it looks forward to the war, with veiled allusions to connection with the continent by flight, swallows representing aircraft, and plunging into darkness.

The pageant is a play within a play, representing a rather cynical view of English history.

The English village bonds throughout the play through their differences and similarities.