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Invisible Friends
''Invisible Friends'' is a 1989 children's play by the British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It was written as a starring vehicle for actress Emma Chambers who portrayed the central character of teenager Lucy Baines in the original production at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England for its run in late 1989 and early 1990. Often seen as a companion play to ''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, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction res ...'', Lucy escapes her unhappiness with her own family by reviving her imaginary childhood friend, Zara. Lucy's family, however, do not approve of this imaginative thinking. Zara helps Lucy to make her family invisible, and Lucy feels much happier and is delighted. However, Zara outstays her welcome and soon manipulates Lucy into catering ... [...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, inc ... [...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 conta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 and 230 feet (3–70 m) above sea level, from the harbour rising steeply north and west towards limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest seaside resort, holiday resort on the Yorkshire Coast and largest seaside town in North Yorkshire. The town has fishing and service industries, including a growing digital and creative economy, as well as being a tourist destination. Residents of the town are known as Scarborians. History Origins The town was reportedly founded around 966 AD as by Thorgils Skarthi, a Viking raider, though there is no archaeological evidence to support these claims, made during the 1960s, as p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Revengers' Comedies
''The Revengers' Comedies'' is a play by Alan Ayckbourn. Its title references that of ''The Revenger's Tragedy''. 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. 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 deat ... [...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] |
British People
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It also refers to citizens of the former British Empire, who settled in the country prior to 1973, and hold neither UK citizenship nor nationality. Though early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity.. The notion of Britishness and a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write" is coincidental.) The first recorded use of the term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in a pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston: :''Epigram XLIX — On Playwright'' :PLAYWRIGHT me reads, and still my verses damns, :He says I want the tongue of epigrams ; :I have no salt, no bawdry he doth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emma Chambers
Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers (11 March 1964 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress who performed in television, film, and the theatre. Beginning her career in 1987 on the British stage, Chambers first drew critical attention for her portrayals of teenage characters in the world premieres of two plays by Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough: Geain in '' Henceforward...'' (1987) and Lucy Baines in ''Invisible Friends'' (1989). She reprised both roles in London's West End; performing the latter role at the Royal National Theatre. She is best known for her portrayal of the characters Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy '' The Vicar of Dibley'' and Honey Thacker in the film '' Notting Hill'' (1999). Early life Chambers was born on 11 March 1964, in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire the daughter of John Chambers, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and his wife Noelle, ''née'' Strange. Her siblings are business owners Sarah and Simon, who crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four counties in England to hold the name Yorkshire; the three other counties are the East Riding of Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. North Yorkshire may also refer to a non-metropolitan county, which covers most of the ceremonial county's area () and population (a mid-2016 estimate by the ONS of 602,300), and is administered by North Yorkshire County Council. The non-metropolitan county does not include four areas of the ceremonial county: the City of York, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and the southern part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, which are all administered by unitary authorities. The non-metropolitan county and the City of York are within the Yorkshire and the Humber region. Middlesbrough, Redcar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Stage And Television Today
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those who work in theatre and the performing arts. History The first edition of ''The Stage'' was published (under the title ''The Stage Directory – a London and Provincial Theatrical Advertiser'') on 1 February 1880 at a cost of three old pence for twelve pages. Publication was monthly until 25 March 1881, when the first weekly edition was produced. At the same time, the name was shortened to ''The Stage'' and the publication numbering restarted at number 1. The publication was a joint venture between founding editor Charles Lionel Carson and business manager Maurice Comerford. It operated from offices opposite the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Carson, whose real name was Lionel Courtier-Dutton, was cited as the founder. His wife Emily Courtier ... [...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, 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 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 '' Dead on Arrival'' in which the narrator is revealed to be dead at the climax. '' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat'' by Oliver Sacks is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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