British Playwright JB Priestly's TIME and the CONWAYS with Elizabeth McGovern-Timeless in Many Ways

J.B. Priestly (b UK 1894-1994) was a playwright & prolific crime novelist.  He wrote more than 100 novels & mainly noted for The GOOD COMPANION (1945).  An INSPECTOR CALLS is one of his most renowned plays in addition to TIME and the CONWAYS (1937) now being revived on B'wy. Priestly's writings in the crime genre also served to espouse his strong political & philosophical views.  He is credited with originating a time warp contrivance: moving the plot along fluid time lines  that are not chronological.  This gimmick is seen in the TV show THIS is US where storylines lead you to wonder what were precursors to events.  The future is revealed.  The mystery arouses curiosity for the revelations to outcomes.  TIME and the CONWAYS is craftily constructed.  The play set in Britain with captivating characters and a carpe diem mentality.  It also proffers staunch class divides and a socialism stance.  The Conways are a well to do, aristocratic family.  The widowed matriarch, Mrs. Conway (an excellent Elizabeth McGovern "Downton Abbey") is entertaining guests at her estate with a costumed charade on the 18th birthday of her daughter, Kay.  The year is 1919 & Britain is rebounding from the pangs of WWI, eager to celebrate.  The motley mix of siblings consist of Alan the oldest benign brother and Robin, the prodigal son & dashing veteran.  The sisters include Kay, an aspiring writer, Hazel a great beauty (Anna Camp "Pitch Perfect" series), Madge a staunch socialist and the youngest, cherished sibling, Carol (Anna Baryshnikov-Mikhail's talented daughter).  The pastiche of players are joined by friends of the family Gerald & Joan.  Gerald brings along an uninvited guest, Ernest (Steven Boyer B'wy Hand to God).  Hazel has noticed Ernest eyeing her. He fesses to his infatuation at the party.  Ernest is rebuffed & humiliated by the family as déclassé' but for Alan & Carol.  After the guests departed, the narcissistic & insensitive Mrs. Conway pronounces predictions for her progenies.  In Scene 2, Act I now 1937, the original set from 1919 recedes upstage behind a diaphanous screen where an omnipresent Carol remains.   The clan is gathering to galvanize over present financial constraints.  Oh how times have changed.  Unfortunately for the Conways, time has not proved kind.  The enticing enigmas of how & why circumstances have changed are answered in Act II.  Priestly hosted a radio show '1940s, to bolster morale during the Battle of Britain but his leftists view got his fired but worked towards forming a Welfare State in the UK.  He turned down the offer of  a Lordship and remained an advocate for the working class.  "I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start with perhaps a bit of magic working somewhere behind the morning."  TIME and the CONWAYS is timeless, magical & miraculous.  Man was made for joy & woe.  And when this we rightly know Thro the world we safely go.  Joy & Woe are woven fine.  A clothing for the soul divine.  (William Blake)