E.F. Benson's hilarious novels, written in the 1920's and 30's of the war for social supremacy between Lucia and Miss Mapp in the small coastal town of Tilling are brought to the stage with all the wit, irony and gentle mocking humour of the originals. Hitherto, Tilling's doyenne has been Miss Mapp; Lucia is the supreme poseuse who peppers her speech with Italian phrases she doesn't understand, and for whom the word 'defeat' exists in no language. So when Miss Lucia rents Miss Mapp's house for the summer and her confidant Georgie joins her, the battle lines are drawn as the two ladies engage in an art exhibition, a garden fête and evenings of musica.