"Companion"", ""Between Mouthfuls"", ""Gosforth’s Fete"" and ""Widows Might"") were written for ""Confusions"", first performed in 1974. The other three one-act plays were: Plays adapted as films include: Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn, (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced more than seventy full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National"
"Scarborough, the predecessor to the modern Stephen Joseph Theatre. His role, again, was initially an acting stage manager. This employment led to Ayckbourn's first professional script commission, in 1958. When he complained about the quality of a script he was performing, Joseph challenged him to write a better one. The result was ""The Square Cat"", written under the pseudonym Roland Allen and first performed in 1959. In this play, Ayckbourn himself played the character Jerry Watiss. After thirty-four appearances in plays at the Library Theatre, including four of his own, in 1962 Ayckbourn moved to Stoke-on-Trent to help set up"
"as part of Ayckbourn's final season as artistic director. After a successful month-long run, it was announced that the play would transfer to the West End, again at the Vaudeville Theatre. It was the first play to be directed by Alan Ayckbourn in the West End since ""Damsels in Distress"" (whose treatment by the West End had led to Alan Ayckbourn's threat of a ""boycott""). Janie Dee reprised her role, as did most of the Scarborough cast, and the play was produced by Bill Kenwright who had revived ""Absurd Person Singular"" in 2007. It had a premiere on 6 February"
"and Alan Ayckbourn, using young acting talent such as Ben Kingsley. He was responsible for over 140 productions, old and new. A speciality was plays with a local resonance, such as ""The Knotty"", about the North Staffordshire Railway, and ""The Fight for Shelton Bar"", about the closure of a local steelworks. Cheeseman masterminded the move in 1986 to a new purpose-built building, specifically designed for theatre in the round, the New Vic Theatre in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme. He finally retired in 1998, and in that year was appointed a CBE. In retirement he remained active, spending eight years as Chair of"
"2009, with a full run from 29 January to 2 May. Although the original Scarborough production ran to full capacity, the reviews in the national papers were very mixed. Martin Hoyle for the ""Financial Times"" praised the play for Ayckbourn venturing into new darker territory (citing touches of ""The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"", ""Blithe Spirit"" and ""The Exorcist"") whilst remaining a uniquely Ayckbourn play. Robin Thornber for ""The Guardian"", meanwhile, was particularly positive with about the way Ayckbourn combined the character's ideal fantasy world with her bleak real word. At the other end of the scale, however, Martin Cropper,"
"Her career was closely associated in particular with Alan Ayckbourn whom she knew from her early work in Scarborough to being her neighbour in London. Bell appeared with English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, the National theatre, the Almeida, the Pleasance, the Bush and in the West End. She appeared in the first season of the dedicated Theatre in the round at Stoke-on-Trent. Bell was also a regular on television and in radio productions. She was a founder member of the Victoria theatre, which is now known as the New Vic. Bell went on to become a mentor"
"""Heroes Welcome in Scarborough"" be formally adopted as good civic practice. In May 2008 Scarborough became the first Heroes Welcome Town, ensuring that service personnel were offered a special warm welcome wherever the Heroes welcome logo was displayed. By June 2008 over 250 local businesses had joined up to the scheme, membership proved to be diverse ranging across political and socio economic boundaries, early members included the South Beach Donkey concession, New York Times best selling author the Reverend G.P Taylor and Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, home to the acclaimed British playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn . The Scarborough"
"flopped, in part down to misguided casting. After this, Ayckbourn experimented by collaborating with comedians, first writing a monologue for Tommy Cooper, and later with Ronnie Barker, who played Lord Slingsby-Craddock in the London production of ""Mr Whatnot"" in 1964, for the scripts of for LWT's ""Hark at Barker"". Ayckbourn used the pseudonym 'Peter Caulfield' because he was under exclusive contract to the BBC at the time. Then, in 1965, back at the Scarborough Library Theatre, ""Meet my Father"" was produced, later retitled ""Relatively Speaking"". This time, the play was a massive success, both in Scarborough and the West End,"
"making Alan Ayckbourn rich and earning him a congratulatory telegram from Noël Coward. This was not quite the end of Ayckbourn's hit-and-miss record, because his following play, ""The Sparrow"" only ran for three weeks at Scarborough. However, the following play, ""How the Other Half Loves"", secured his runaway success as a playwright. The height of Ayckbourn's commercial success included ""Absurd Person Singular"" (1975), ""The Norman Conquests"" trilogy (1973), ""Bedroom Farce"" (1975) and ""Just Between Ourselves"" (1976), all plays that focused heavily on marriage in the British middle classes. The only failure during this period was a 1975 musical with Andrew"
"converted 1930's Odeon cinema) and Staffordshire in the English West Midlands. He worked as writer, actor and also regularly ran the box-office and front-of-house. Campton always credited himself with giving a young Alan Ayckbourn one of his first jobs at Scarborough with the immortal words, 'watch me my boy and one day you might become a playwright like me!' Ayckbourn later became Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre and an internationally renowned playwright. Campton was always keen to encourage those interested in drama, even amateurs. At age seventy-six, Campton directed and appeared in one of the plays he had"
"gave it positive reviews. A performance starring Paul Lavers was held at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage in May 2018. Neighbourhood Watch (Ayckbourn play) Neighbourhood Watch is a 2011 play by Alan Ayckbourn. The play premiered on 13 September 2011 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. The play centers around a brother and sister who innocently set up a Neighbourhood Watch group following petty crime from a nearby estate, only for the group to go out of control and become an authoritarian force controlling the lives of the people they are supposed to protect. Critics were generally favourable"
"and Alan Ayckbourn would not agree to this. As a result the run ended. The North West England premiere was staged by Chris Honer at the Library Theatre, Manchester in September 2006. Reviews of the 2004 premiere were few and mixed, and none were archived in ""Theatre Record"". This led to a negative review from Benedict Nightingale of ""The Times"", once the play toured to the Orange Tree. She suggested the lack of reviewers at the Scarborough production was a sign of Alan Ayckbourn's decline. However, all the other London critics covering the show penned favourable reviews for the Orange"
"The Spa, Scarborough Scarborough Spa is a Grade II* listed building in South Bay, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is a venue for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment, live music and events on the Yorkshire Coast. Originally built around the source of Scarborough's spa waters, it is owned by Scarborough Borough Council and is managed by Sheffield International Venues. The Spa has a Grand Hall, which seats nearly 2,000 and hosts live entertainment including the Scarborough Spa Orchestra and the annual Scarborough Jazz Festival. The Spa Theatre, a 600-seat Victorian theatre, is home to summer season shows and Christmas pantomimes. The Spa"
"pong balls from a bag beforehand. Many of Ayckbourn's plays have had their New York premiere at 59E59 Theaters as part of their annual Brits Off Broadway Festitval including ""Private Fears in Public Places"", ""Intimate Exchanges"", ""My Wonderful Day"" and ""Neighbourhood Watch"" among others. Although Ayckbourn is best known as a writer, it is said that he only spends 10% of his time writing plays. Most of the rest of his time is spent directing. Ayckbourn began directing at the Scarborough Library Theatre in 1961, with a production of ""Gaslight"" by Patrick Hamilton. He directed five other plays that year"
"once felt the presence of his father's ghost in Scarborough a few years after his death. This play has the unique characteristic of being the only Ayckbourn play to have been written for the proscenium but premièred in the round. At the time of writing the play, it was planned that the Stephen Joseph Theatre would have moved to its new (and present-day) site at the old Odeon cinema, where there would be both a round and an end-stage theatre available. However, it turned out the new theatre was not ready until 1996. An idea to open the end-stage theatre"
"currently still in pre-production. Pargeter was a member of the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where she was directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn in a trilogy of plays known collectively as ""Damsels in Distress"", which subsequently transferred to the West End. For this, she won Best Newcomer in the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and was nominated for an Evening Standard award, Manchester Evening News Award and a Whatsonstage Award. Later parts include ""Sugar Daddies"", again written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn; ""She Stoops to Conquer"" at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, for which she was nominated for a"
"name should not be used. So the name Footsbarn Theatre was born out of panic. ""Endgame"" put down the marker for Footsbarn's distinctive style. Ian Watson of South West Arts, Alan Ayckbourn's biographer, said it was the best piece of theatre he'd experienced. It was the reason why Footsbarn were given their original grant. It seems that without Mr Beckett's play Footsbarn would not exist. The ensemble played in various British venues, including the 1979 Glastonbury Festival. ""Footsbarn Travelling Theatre"" left Britain in 1981 to tour the world. The Company has produced more than 60 plays and have travelled to"
"the variants were also recorded for BBC radio. Since then, the play has been produced only once more in its entirety. It was revived between 2006 and 2007 in Scarborough starring Bill Champion and Claudia Elmhirst. This production transferred to New York in 2008 as part of the ""Brits Off Broadway"" festival. There, it broke box office records and was nominated for two 2008 Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actor in a Play for Bill Champion. ""Intimate Exchanges"" is one of the few Ayckbourn plays to have been filmed. Alain Resnais made two French films in 1993, called"
"the playwright and director Alan Ayckbourn. This began with Paul Todd's fringe production of ""Between The Lines"" for which Ayckbourn wrote song lyrics and was followed by ""Dreams From A Summerhouse"" at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. She returned to work with Ayckbourn in 1996 in Neil Simon's ""They're Playing Our Song"" and it was during the run of this show Ayckbourn wrote ""Comic Potential"" 'with Janie in mind'. Her performance as Jacie Triplethree at Scarborough, subsequently in the West End and then at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, won her three Best Actress Awards in 1999"
"Futurist Theatre The Futurist Theatre was a theatre and cinema in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was located on Foreshore Road, on the sea front of the South Bay. The theatre closed on 6 January 2014 after the operator's lease expired. The building was demolished by August 2018. The Futurist was built as a cinema in 1921. It remained in this role until 1958 when the stage was extended to allow live performances at the venue. The Beatles performed there twice, on 11 December 1963 and on 9 August 1964. Extensions to the stage allowed the popular ""The Black and"
"by Alan Ayckbourn and Alan Bennett amongst others. He has also been an exponent in the field of corporate and medical professional actor-based roleplaying, especially noted for his work on development of feedback techniques, including his formulation of Advocate Feedback. Christopher Webber Christopher Webber (born 27 May 1953) is an English actor, dramatist, theatre director, writer and music critic. Webber was born in Bowdon, Cheshire (now Greater Manchester) and educated at The Manchester Grammar School and the University of Kent at Canterbury. Starting his professional career with theatre directing work, for companies such as Orpheus Opera (of which he was"
"A Word from Our Sponsor A Word from Our Sponsor is a 1995 musical by Alan Ayckbourn and John Pattison. It was the final Ayckbourn play to be premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre's old Westwood site. It is about a vicar, who is tempted by the devil (Valda/Valder) offering a sponsorship deal for dubious return favours. This play was one of Ayckbourn's less successful works. Just before the play was transferred to Minerva Theatre, Chichester, the production was interrupted by the death of a member of the cast, Sophie Winter (Gussie), who collapsed the afternoon before the final Scarborough"
"17 August 2004, featuring the following cast: The production team were: The production returned to the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2005 for 11 performances before touring. It was the first Ayckbourn production to be shown in London since Alan Ayckbourn threatened to boycott the West End following their treatment of ""Damsels in Distress"" two years previously. Even so, the company avoided the West End, instead performing the work in-the-round at the Orange Tree Theatre, in Richmond, which has close links with the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. This production, twenty minutes longer than the 2004 original, previewed at the Stephen"
"Alan David (actor) Alan David (born 29 December 1941 as Alan Davies) is a Welsh actor, best known for his stage and television roles. David was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. After working in repertory at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and the Victoria Theatre, Stoke, David was a regular performer with the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1970 and 2003, most notably as Touchstone in ""As You Like It"" (1977), various rôles in the 1986 revival of ""Nicholas Nickleby"" and Polonius in ""Hamlet"" (2001). His regular London appearances include parts at the National Theatre, Almeida Theatre and Royal Court Theatre. He"
"Henceforward... The play Henceforward... is the first comedy in which Alan Ayckbourn includes elements of science fiction. It concerns Jerome, a composer, who develops a plan to persuade his estranged wife Corinna that his home life is sufficiently stable for her to allow their daughter to stay with him. The plan involves both an actress and a gynoid (the female equivalent of an android). ""Henceforward..."" was Ayckbourn's thirty-fourth full-length play. It was first performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 1987. It received its West End premiere at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand, London in October 1988"
"A Trip to Scarborough A Trip to Scarborough is an 18th-century play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), first performed on 24 February 1777. Sheridan based his work on John Vanbrugh's ""The Relapse"" (1696), removing much of the bawdy content. The play was reworked as one of three plot strands in a 1982 revival by Alan Ayckbourn, with the action taking place in the Royal Hotel, Scarborough. The first performance was on 8 December that year. It is a technically demanding piece as the actors are required to take on several roles, with quick changes between scenes as the play switches"
"from the 18th century to World War II to the present day. Ayckbourn updated the production when it returned to the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the town during 2007-2008. The hero of the play, Tom Fashion, arrives penniless in Scarborough, attended by but one faithful servant, Lory, who privately informs the audience that he will never desert his master until he pays him his wages. Fashion has come to visit his rich elder brother, Lord Foppington, whom he hopes to be able to beg money from. When he arrives, he finds his friend, Colonel Townly, also in town. Townly tells"
"Alan Ayckbourn CBE. It was first presented from 2 to 6 May 2007 at the Raffles Hotel’s Jubilee Hall Theatre in Singapore, and then toured to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Colombo in Sri Lanka. The artists were Jeremy Gittins, William Rycroft, Amanda Waldy and Marianne Oldham; the director was John Nolan; and the set designer was Norman Coates. A Bedful of Foreigners by Dave Freeman was the BTP’s previous production. It was presented from 15 to 19 November 2006 at the Jubilee Hall Theatre of Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and then toured to Kuala Lumpur and was presented there"
"Time of My Life (play) Time Of My Life is a play by Alan Ayckbourn. It premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough on 21 April 1992 then in the West End on 3 August 1993. It was revived by the author in the summer of 2013. The play is set in three different periods of time in a small Italian restaurant in Northern England. When Gerry Stratton plans a family meal out with his two grown up sons to celebrate his wife, Laura’s 54th birthday and proposes an almost prophetic toast to ‘happy times’, he has no idea"
"expected the plays to be performed equally. Eventually, Ayckbourn expressed his frustration with West End Theatre in general. This was interpreted by many as a threat to boycott the West End altogether. In 2004 and 2005, the play received three further professional productions by professional theatre companies. In spite of ""RolePlay"" being the afterthought of the trilogy, it earned the most praise of the three plays, throughout the original Scarborough run, the tour, and the later West End production. Whilst the critics were unanimous in praise of the play, opinions varied as to how they saw the play. Some saw"
"the Stephen Joseph Theatre, the play immediately transferred to 59E59 Theater in New York. This was the third Ayckbourn play to transfer to Off-Broadway as part off the ""Brits Off Broadway"" festival (the first two being ""Private Fears in Public Places"" in 2005 and a revival of ""Intimate Exchanges"" in 2007), but the first to transfer to New York immediately after the original run in Scarborough. The following year, the play returned to the UK for a tour of eight theatres. All the original cast took part throughout the US and UK performances. The reviews of ""My Wonderful Day"" were"
"actors' dressing rooms while they were at the theatre, including Peter Bowles, Michael Gambon and Penelope Keith. Beerbohm was mentioned several times on ""Desert Island Discs"", and he was the only cat to have received a front-page obituary in the theatrical publication, ""The Stage"". He died in March 1995 at the age of 20. Refurbished in 1987, with extensive work on the gold leaf in the auditorium, the theatre is particularly notable for its beautiful circular Regency staircase, oval gallery and tower. The theatre has presented several Alan Ayckbourn premieres, including ""Man of the Moment"" (1990). Oscar Wilde's classic comedy,"
"Ashcroft Theatre The Ashcroft Theatre is a theatre located within the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, South London. The theatre was named after Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft and is a proscenium theatre with a stepped auditorium. The mural on its fire curtain is by the artist Henry Bird. A variety of productions are held throughout the year such as drama, ballet, opera and pantomime. The venue has a seating capacity of 763 and can be converted into a cinema as it has a large screen giving full Cinemascope and standard film format. The Ashcroft Theatre was opened on 5 November 1962 by"