|
If I Were You (play)
''If I Were You'' is a 2006 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It is about an unhappy married couple who are given the chance to understand each other by discovering, quite literally, what they would do "if I were you," in the same manner as the novel '' Turnabout'' by Thorne Smith. Background This play was one of several attempts Alan Ayckbourn made to write a play involving swapping bodies. In 1990, ''Body Language'' was premiered, where a fat woman and a thin woman swap bodies from the neck down following a botched operation. And in 2002's ''The Jollies'', a young boy is transported into an adult's body whilst his mother is transported into a young girl's body. The play was written in January 2006, initially with the title ''If I Were You'', which was then altered to ''I to I'' before reverting to the original. However, there were no plans to produce the play that year, as the Stephen Joseph Theatre already planned to produce revivals of ''Intimate Exchanges'' and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty 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 Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit '' Relatively Speaking'' opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967. Major successes include ''Absurd Person Singular'' (1975), ''The Norman Conquests'' trilogy (1973), '' Bedroom Farce'' (1975), ''Just Between Ourselves'' (1976), '' A Chorus of Disapproval'' (1984), ''Woman in Mind'' (1985), ''A Small Family Business'' (1987), '' Man of the Moment'' (1988), ''House'' & ''Garden'' (1999) and ''Private Fears in Public Places'' (2004). His plays have won numerous awards, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedroom Farce
A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy, which centres on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors. Overview The most famous bedroom farceur is probably Georges Feydeau, whose collections of coincidences, slamming doors, and ridiculous dialogue delighted Paris in the 1890s and are now considered forerunners to the Theatre of the Absurd. The Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler took bedroom farce to its highest dramatic level in his ''La Ronde'', which in ten bedroom scenes connect the highest and lowest of Vienna. Some of the English Aldwych farces by Ben Travers which were popular in the 1920s and 1930s have aspects of "bedroom farce", e.g. ''A Cuckoo in the Nest'' or ''Rookery Nook''. However, in each case the sharing of a bedroom or house turns out to have an innocent explanation. In modern times, Woody Allen's ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982) presents aspects of the bedroom farc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liza Goddard
Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950) professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.Before 1 April 1974 Smethwick was in Staffordshire She is the daughter of David Goddard (1925–1992), who produced and directed numerous TV shows and programmes. She attended Farnham Girls' Grammar School, before her father moved the family to Australia, when she was 15, upon his appointment as Head of Drama at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Career Goddard made early television appearances in Australia, including episode 100 of ''Homicide'' ("The Traveller", 1966), and the ABC drama play ''Romanoff & Juliet'' (1967), and a brief (non-speaking, uncredited) appearance in the feature film ''They're A Weird Mob'' (1966). However, she is best remembered in Australia for her role as Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick in '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed. Characters * Theseus—Duke of Athens * Hippolyta—Queen of the Amazons * Egeus—father of Hermia * Hermia—daughter of Egeus, in love with Lysander * Lysander—in love with Hermia * Demetrius—suitor to Hermia * Helena—in love with Demetrius * Philostrate—Master of the Revels * Peter Quince—a carpenter * Nick Bottom—a weaver * Francis Flute—a bellows-mender * Tom Snout—a tinker * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Flute
Francis Flute is a character in William Shakespeare's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. His occupation is a bellows-mender. He is forced to play the female role of Thisbe in "Pyramus and Thisbe", a play-within-the-play which is performed for Theseus' marriage celebration. In the play Flute (Thisbe) speaks through the wall (played by Tom Snout) to Pyramus (Nick Bottom). Flute is a young, excited actor who is disappointed when he finds he is meant to play a woman (Thisbe) in their interlude before the duke and the duchess. He generally is portrayed using a falsetto voice. He is an unsure actor who asks many questions. Flute is often portrayed as the lowest in status of the Mechanicals, but his performance at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta arguably wins them favour at the court of the duke and duchess. Flute's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is metonymical and derives from his craft: "Flute" references a church organ, an instrument prominently featuring the bellows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Body Swap
A body swap (also named mind swap or soul swap or brain swap) is a storytelling device seen in a variety of science and supernatural fiction, in which two people (or beings) exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. In media such as television and film, the device is an opportunity for two actors to temporarily play each other's characters, although in some cases, dialogue is dubbed by the original actors. Description There are different types of body swapping. For non-technology swapping, switches can be caused by magic items such as amulets, heartfelt wishes, or just strange quirks of the universe. The switches typically reverse after the subjects have expanded their world views, gained a new appreciation for each other's troubles by literally "walking in another's shoes" and/or caused sufficient amounts of farce. Notable examples include the books ''Vice Versa'' (1882) and ''Freaky Friday'' (1972), as well as the film versions of both. Switches accomplished by technol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame into which the audience observes from a more or less unified angle the events taking place upon the stage during a theatrical performance. The concept of the fourth wall of the theatre stage space that faces the audience is essentially the same. It can be considered as a social construct which divides the actors and their stage-world from the audience which has come to witness it. But since the curtain usually comes down just behind the proscenium arch, it has a physical reality when the curtain is down, hiding the stage from view. The same plane also includes the drop, in traditional theatres of modern times, from the stage level to the "stalls" level of the audience, which was the original meaning of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Fears In Public Places
''Private Fears in Public Places'' is a 2004 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The bleakest play written by Ayckbourn for many years, it intimately follows a few days in the lives of six characters, in four tightly-interwoven stories through 54 scenes. In 2006, it was made into a film ''Cœurs'', directed by Alain Resnais. Background The title was originally chosen for a play Ayckbourn was writing in 1994, but which was replaced by another new play, ''Communicating Doors''. Ten years later he used the title for this very different play — following the practice of rescuing redundant titles first employed by Ayckbourn for ''Absurd Person Singular'' back in 1972.Alan Ayckbourn, Preface to Three Plays (''Absurd Person Singular'', ''Absent Friends'', ''Bedroom Farce'') (1977) Penguin As with ''Absurd Person Singular'', ''Private Fears in Public Places'' has little in common with the play for which its title was first devised. It was written for performance by the Step ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woman In Mind
''Woman in Mind (December Bee)'' is the 32nd play by English playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resulted in a transfer to London's West End. The play received its London opening at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1986 where it received predominantly excellent reviews. ''Woman in Mind'' was Ayckbourn's first play to use first-person narrative and a Subjectivity, subjective viewpoint and is considered to be one of his most affecting works and one of his best. History and influences ''Woman in Mind'' was the last play written by Ayckbourn before his two-year sabbatical at the Royal National Theatre. Most of it was written while Ayckbourn was on holiday in the Virgin Islands. Influences for the play include the film ''D.O.A. (1950 film), Dead on Arrival'' in which the narrator is revealed to be dead at the climax. ''T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain. In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on the first floor of the Public Library. The theatre flourished and in 1976 moved to a supposedly temporary home on the ground floor of the former Scarborough Boys' High School. However, a permanent home proved difficult to find and it was not until late 1988 and the closure of the local Odeon cinema by Rank Leisure that the theatre's long-standing Artistic Director, Alan Ayckbourn, found a suitable venue. Ayckbourn launched a £4 million appeal to transform the old cinema with a view to opening it up in 1995. The new theatre, known simply as the Stephen Joseph Theatre, opened in 1996 and comprises two auditoria: ''The Round'', a 404-seat theatre in the round, and ''The McCarthy'', a 165-seat end-on stage/cinema. The building also contains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Body Language (play)
''Body Language'' is a 1990 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of .... It is about two women, one thin and one fat, who have their bodies swapped as a result of a botched operation. References ''Body Language'' on official Ayckbourn site* Allen, Paul (2004) ''A Pocket Guide to Alan Ayckbourn Plays'' Faber & Faber * Plays by Alan Ayckbourn 1990 plays {{1990s-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorne Smith
James Thorne Smith, Jr. (March 27, 1892 – June 20, 1934) was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two ''Topper'' novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, much drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s. Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a Navy commodore, and attended Dartmouth College. Following hungry years in Greenwich Village, working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of ''Topper'' in 1926. He was an early resident of Free Acres, a social experimental community developed by Bolton Hall according to the economic principles of Henry George, in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in Florida. Works * ''Biltmore Oswald: The Diary of a Hapless Recruit'' (1918). A series of co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
