Editing Separate Tables (section)

==Original productions==
The play premiered at the Opera House in Manchester,<ref>"A Pair of Rattigan Plays at the Opera House: 'Separate Tables'", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 7 September 1954, p. 5</ref> ''Separate Tables'' then moved to the [[St James's Theatre]] in London on 22 September 1954, with the following cast:
* Mrs Shankland and Miss Railton-Bell – [[Margaret Leighton]]
* Mr Martin and Major Pollock – [[Eric Portman]]
* Mrs Railton-Bell – [[Phyllis Neilson-Terry]]
* Miss Cooper – [[Beryl Measor]]
* Mabel – [[Marion Fawcett]]
* Lady Matheson – Jane Eccles
* Miss Meacham – [[May Hallatt]]
* Mr Fowler – [[Aubrey Mather]]
* Mr Stratton – [[Basil Henson]]
* Miss Tanner – Patricia Rayne

The play was directed by [[Peter Glenville]], with sets by Michael Weight.<ref name=times>"St James's Theatre", ''The Times'', 23 September 1954, p. 10</ref> It opened to good reviews; [[Harold Hobson]] called the second play in the double-bill, "one of Rattigan's masterpieces, in which he shows in superlative degree his pathos, his humour and his astounding mastery over [the] English language...".<ref>Wansell, p. 257</ref> The production was a commercial success, running for 726 performances.<ref>Gaye, p. 1538</ref>

''Separate Tables'' was presented at the [[Music Box Theatre]] in New York on 25 October 1956. It was a transfer of the London production with the same principal players and many of the supporting cast. In ''The New York Times'', [[Brooks Atkinson]] wrote "Since Terence Rattigan has written a particularly fine play, it is only fair that it should be wonderfully well acted."<ref>Atkinson, Brooks. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10614F8345D177A93C4AB178BD95F428585F9&action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%23%2FRattigan%2BAND%2BSeparate%2BTables%2F "The Theatre – Separate Tables"], ''The New York Times'', 26 October 1956, p. 32 {{subscription required}}</ref> The production won one [[Tony Awards|Tony]] award (for Leighton as best dramatic actress) and was nominated for five more: for the play, the direction, and for three of the supporting cast, Neilson-Terry, Measor and William Podmore (as Fowler).<ref>[http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search "Separate Tables search"] Tony Awards, retrieved 19 March 2014</ref>