''Donkeys' Years'' is a play by English playwright
Michael Frayn that premiered at the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...
, London, in 1976.
The play is a West End
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...
, a genre that Frayn parodied five years later in his
play within a play "Nothing On" from ''
Noises Off''.
In ''Donkeys' Years'' six former students spend the weekend at their old university college for their 25th year reunion. The wife of the Master of the college becomes locked within its walls for the night, supplying the material for a classic
bedroom farce. A Government minister is placed in a series of embarrassing positions.
The play won the 1976
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.
The play featured
Penelope Keith, who subsequently won the 1976
Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance.
The play was revived in 2006 at the
Comedy Theatre.
References
Further reading
*
1976 plays
Plays by Michael Frayn
West End plays
Laurence Olivier Award–winning plays
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