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Programme Note

SYNOPSIS

After being shipwrecked, two English ‘gentlemen’ reach the same desert island, but since they have not been introduced, they ought not to speak to each other. Listening to each other thinking aloud, they discover a mutual acquaintance in a certain Robinson and spurred on by a curious maldistribution of gastronomic delights between their territories, they agree that formal etiquette has been satisfied and communication and cooperation is permissible. Some months later Robinson appears as the leader of a rescue party made up of convicts, but both men refuse the offer of rescue by criminals. Further, they play down their contact with Robinson, snub each other, break off relations and are content to die in their respective territories.