Nightmare Abbey

Set on a bleak strip between sea and fens, Nightmare Abbey looms in a state of charming decay, its corridors echoing with the sighs of a man haunted by “blue devils.” Christopher Glowry, the brooding master of the house, wrestles with a broken heart and a cynical view of learning, convinced that only a good dinner can bring any comfort. His late wife’s cold ambition and relentless vanity still linger in the empty rooms, casting long shadows over his melancholic musings.

Into this gloomy tableau arrives his only son, Scythrop, freshly minted from a university that seemed to have stripped him of all sense. He returns home bearing a silver fish‑slice as a mock trophy, while his fellow alumni, ever‑ready for a drink, leave him with a head full of half‑learned jokes and half‑drunk philosophies. As guests and eccentric relatives gather, their witty debates and absurd pretensions turn the abbey into a stage for satirical commentary on love, ambition, and the pretensions of the Romantic age, promising listeners a delightfully sharp and amusing first act.