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Post by NeilVHughes on Apr 15, 2019 9:18:25 GMT
Surprised that there are none of Ayckbourn’s plays currently being staged in the West End as we celebrate his 80th Birthday.
The only one I have seen staged this year was Absurd Person Singular at the Watford Palace Theatre last month, which was extremely funny and encapsulated the shift in social standing as we met three couples over three consecutive Christmases.
Listening to the Things We Do for Love on the radio on my drive back from Stratford Upon Avon on Saturday there was no better way to pass the time, as life got in the way of the character’s best laid plans.
Will likely go back to Scarborough this year to celebrate and show my appreciation as subliminally he is the one who greatly influenced my interest in Theatre, unknowingly at the time, as whenever one of his plays were shown on the television in the 70’s / 80’s there was something which drew me in and they have stuck in my consciousness ever since.
He continues to write and the last one I saw in 2017, A Brief History of Women was a great play showing how the role of women had changed over the last century and deserved(s)to come to London and would be perfect for somewhere like the Orange Tree Theatre.
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Post by Tibidabo on Apr 15, 2019 9:38:09 GMT
Nice post NeilVHughes . Made me realise how much I've been influenced by him too - in a slightly different way as I've been in several of his plays. For about a decade of my life I seemed to be the quintessential Ayckbourn woman, my favourite probably being Belinda in Season's Greetings, from which I hold fond memories of menacing activity brandishing a fork whilst 'Clive' carefully backed away around the dining table. Happy birthday Sir Alan.
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Post by TallPaul on Apr 15, 2019 13:47:20 GMT
This is a doubly special year for Sir Alan. His first 'professional' play, The Square Cat, opened in the upstairs room at Scarborough Library on 30 July 1959. No, Tibidabo , before you ask, I wasn't there. As TheatreBoard's Scarborough correspondent, it seems odd that the exact anniversary is being marked with a performance of...Stepping Out. There is, however, a belated special birthday event on Sunday 29 September and, Tibs, this summer's Ayckbourn revival is Season's Greetings. It doesn't open until late July, so I'm sure you could still catch the end of the casting process. *We* need to see your Belinda. Fun fact: The reason the Round is called the Round, rather than the Pindar, or the Plaxton Coaches, is because Alan, as I call him, bought the naming rights, just as Charles McCarthy, of McCain chips, did with the smaller theatre upstairs.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 16:08:44 GMT
I miss Ayckbourn. I remember seeing loads in the 80s, on telly and in local rep. Some of the very first live theatre I saw was touring rep production of the Norman Conquests over three nights when I was perhaps 11 or so. I loved it so much. I recently rewatched the dvd version with Tom Conti and Penelope Wilton & co, and it's very dated, but just still so funny. I remember loving the tv version of Season's Greetings, and I'm so excited they're doing a new production in Scarborough this summer - I've never been, but it's now on my list.
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