''The Revengers' Comedies'' is a play by Alan Ayckbourn. Its title references that of ''

The Revenger's Tragedy ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' is an English-language Jacobean revenge tragedy which was performed in 1606, and published in 1607 by George Eld. It was long attributed to Cyril Tourneur, but "The consensus candidate for authorship of ''The Reve ...

''. The play is an epic piece running more than five hours and was designed to be presented in two parts. It was inspired by the playwright's love of films and references many notable movies, particularly the Alfred Hitchcock classic '' Strangers on a Train''.

Plot

The plot focuses on two disparate characters. Henry Bell is a 42-year-old executive, divorced and recently fired from his job, and Karen Knightly is 25 years old, wealthy, very eccentric, and recently abandoned by her lover Anthony Staxton-Billing, who opted to return to his wife Imogen. Both are intent on committing suicide by leaping from the Albert Bridge in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. When neither succeeds, they strike a bargain whereby each agrees to exact revenge on behalf of the other. Karen finds employment at Lembridge Tennit, the conglomerate for which Henry worked, and in short order two of her bosses meet violent deaths and a third has a nervous breakdown. Henry, meanwhile, is finding it difficult to keep his end of the bargain, since he has fallen in love with Imogen. Instead of planning her demise, he begins an affair with the beguiling woman. After accidentally killing her husband, Henry finds himself torn between marrying her and fulfilling his promise to Karen by disposing of her. In the end, love prevails, and a thwarted Karen hurls herself into the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Productions

The play premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, a

theatre in the round A theatre in the round, arena theatre or central staging is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage. Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre, particularly that of Greece and Rome, but was not widely explored aga ...

, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire on 13 June 1989, with Jon Strickland as Henry, Christine Kavanagh as Karen, and Elizabeth Bell as Imogen. It proved to be a critical and commercial success. Ayckbourn was anxious to open a West End production at the Royal National Theatre, which he felt was the only

venue capable of accommodating the complicated staging. The National was interested only if the two parts were condensed into one play, but Ayckbourn refused. Producer

Michael Codron Sir Michael Victor Codron (born 8 June 1930) is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. He has been honoured with a Laurence Olivi ...

was willing to stage the plays as written, and Part I opened at the Strand Theatre on 16 October 1991, with Part II presented the following night. The cast included

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for h ...

as Henry, then relatively unknown

Lia Williams Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, known for stage, film, and television appearances. She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in ''The Crown''. Theatre career Williams's breakthrough performance came ...

as Karen, and

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

as Imogen. Williams won the

Critics' Circle Theatre Award The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, originally called ''Drama'' Theatre Awards up to 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, ar ...

for Most Promising Newcomer Award for her performance. Because the Strand is a traditional proscenium theatre, staging was problematic, and moving walkways designed to allow the sets to move quickly proved to be expensive. Audiences didn't respond well to a format that required them to attend two performances to see a complete play, and ticket sales suffered as a result. The plays closed on 4 January 1992.

Adaptations

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

adapted the plays for broadcast in 1996. Two years later, a film version entitled '' Sweet Revenge'' was written and directed by Malcolm Mowbray, but it failed to find a distributor. It was telecast by BBC Two in December 1999Media at AlanAyckbourn.net
/ref> and eventually released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

References

External links

''The Revengers' Comedies'' at AlanAyckbourn.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revengers Comedies, The 1989 plays Comedy plays West End plays Plays by Alan Ayckbourn