Confusions script alan ayckbourn biography

Confusions script alan ayckbourn biography: Confusions is a play

Then I recalled a sketch I had written for an entertainment presented by Oscar Quitak for a week in Horsham which never went any further. The show Mixed Blessings was intended as a sequel to Mixed Doubles which had had a successful run in London in the early sixties. The idea was to show off their talents there are 20 parts in all and it was also a chance to work in the one act medium.

It was intended that the parts be shared equally amongst the five. The plays are all deliberately written in slightly different styles though the over-riding prerogative in all of them is that they be played within the bounds of each of their styles absolutely truthfully. She is a battered wife. Drinking Companion is essentially a tragedy about a sad, lost, randy drunk.

Harry is the most appalling man and deserves everything he gets — and yet his delusions about himself, about the two women he drinks with, are essentially pathetic. It is an incident I witnessed first hand in a Scarborough hotel; indeed, one I witnessed on several consecutive evenings with the same two women, both in town to do sales demos.

When they had finished work, they came back to their rooms where they spent over an hour preparing for the evening ahead, making up, dressing up. One of them would move in on him and then, some time after, her friend would join her. Harry is the businessman who appears in Drinking Companion and who is served drinks by a waiter. This is the same waiter who appears in Between Mouthfuls at presumably the same hotelwho serves Mrs Pearce and her husband.

Doreen talks about her former husband being a landlord, which is a subtle reference to Gosforth. Having read it, she immediately sent Alan a telegram declaring it contained some of his best writing. In his place, Codron appointed Alan Strachan as director marking the first time he would work with Alan. The anticipated opening of Confusions was delayed however by a year due to difficulties in casting the confusion script alan ayckbourn biography.

Eventually, the husband and wife team of John Alderton and Pauline Collins were cast and a decision made which would have long-term ramifications for the play. As has been previously stated, each of the plays gave each of the five actors a chance to shine and no single figure featured more than the others. Alan has always had an issue with the way the West End distorts his plays, particularly in the frequent need to attach star names to London productions for what are, essentially, ensemble plays.

While there is no doubting John Alderton gave a well-received performance in Confusionsthere is also no doubt the London production became a vehicle for both him and Pauline Collins. Several major publications on Alan Ayckbourn — wrongly taking the London production as definitive when it was not even directed by Alan — incorrectly state it is not the same Waiter in the two acts of the play and, as a result, cannot with certainty say what links Drinking Companion and Between Mouthfuls.

It is an ensemble work where every actor is given the chance to shine. Matters were not helped when Alderton broke his ankle and performed one performance in a wheelchair and a number of others with his leg in a cast; one can only imagine that this sucked even more attention away from the rest of the company. Indeed, the production seemed to be cursed with bad luck.

The actress Sheila Gish fell ill during the pre-West End tour and in a run of bad luck was also involved in a car accident which led to her missing six weeks from the run, whilst Derek Fowlds had to take a break during the London run due to contracting mumps.

Confusions script alan ayckbourn biography: Confusions consists of five short

Confusions opened at the Apollo Theatre on 19 May and had an eight month run, receiving some very positive reviews. The production was a success, but not to the extent of the recent clutch of Ayckbourn plays which had taken the West End by storm. The reason for this was probably due to the nature of it being a series of one-act plays, rather than any particular fault with the evening itself.

Confusions closed in London in January and was immediately in demand from regional repertory theatres, proving to be a popular and successful play to the present day. It is also the only Ayckbourn play to have an illegal production on record! Confusions was actually written for the five actors who were currently the Scarborough company. I wrote them a little showcase really.

It was written at a time when I wanted theatre to primarily show off actors, I still do really, but in those days I thought people loved the idea of actors playing different roles and becoming different people. I think this is partly because you take the magic for granted in a sense on screen with computer generated images and special effects. Yes, it was the first time the Scarborough company went out on any major tour.

We took Confusions out to the country. It was a small cast and quite an easy show which you could put in the back of a van.

Confusions script alan ayckbourn biography: Confusions: History. Confusions capped

There was also a weekly repertory tour in Scarborough, Filey and Whitby — which was extraordinary as we would play Confusions in-the-round, three-sided and end-stage all in the space of a week! If we wanted to stay in Scarborough we could only use the small lecture room at the Library Theatre and that could only be three-sided. Filey was the only place it was done in-the-round, at the Sun Lounge — jokingly called the Rain Lounge as it leaked so much!

So I took it back and used it as a basis for Confusions. Sign In now. Sign Up now. Sign in with:. Email Address Invalid Email Address. Password Forgot Password? With a personal account, you can save books, chapters, images or other items to view later. Current Password Current Password doesn't match. New Password Enter min 6 Characters. Confirm New Password Entered password does not match.