The light-hearted and entertaining play concerns four elderly actresses passing their days in a Home for Retired Artistes. They bicker and banter, showing the different parts of thier profession. Only Dame Anthea's dresser, Gladys, keeps an observant distance, injecting pithy comments into the actresses' small talk. Needing a man for their projected Christmas play, they enlist the help of newcomer Arthur Pendragon. But it is the dapper Antony Redfern who devises an entertainment ideally suited to their personalities, whilst the redoubtable Gladys in installed as costume mistress, as usual 5 women, 2 men.