Still Life (1936) is a one act play by Noël Coward. It belongs to the cycle of ten comedies Tonight at 8:30. It is spring. In the refreshment room of “Milford Junction” railway station, the housewife Laura Jesson, is waiting for her train to go back home after shopping. She has got a piece of grit (un granello di sabbia) in her eyes and Alec Harvey, a married physician (medico), helps her remove it (l’ aiuta a toglierlo). The next summer, Alec and Laura meet again by chance (per caso) and spend pleasant hours together : they lunch and go to the cinema. In October, they meet again and admit their mutual attraction (reciproca attrazione) and love. So they decide to spend a night together in a flat of a friend of Alec. But in December they are both feeling guilty (colpevoli) and decide to stop their relationship. In spring, Alec must go abroad for work and meets Laura to say her the last goodbye (ultimo saluto). But the couple can’t part (non riesce a lasciarsi) with a passionate farewell (addio) because a loquacious (chiaccherone) friend of hers comes while they are spending their last moment together and they have to say their final goodbye shaking their hands (dandosi la mano). The secretive love story between Laura and Alec is contrasted (è messo in contrasto con) with the lively and uncomplicated relationship of Myrtle and Albert, two of the station staff. At the theatre Coward himself played the leading role (ruolo principale) . The play was then adapted and expanded by the author into a film directed by David Lean, Brief Encounter (1945)and then re-made in 1974 for television – starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren.