London Classic Theatre reinvent Alan Ayckbourn’s 1972 classic comedy, the first Ayckbourn play at Cambridge Arts Theatre since 2017.
Three married couples. Three kitchens. Three Christmas parties.
Sidney Hopcroft, a small-time tradesman, persuades wife Jane to throw a Christmas party hoping to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As the celebrations get underway, class differences and naked ambition combine to hilarious effect as, one by one, the characters seek refuge in Jane’s kitchen.
Over the next two years, the Jacksons and Brewster-Wrights take turns to host festivities. But Sidney’s star has begun to rise, and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.
Alan Ayckbourn’s comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s suburbia fuses a potent mix of farce and black comedy.
An Olivier and Tony Award-winning playwright, Alan Ayckbourn’s 81 plays have been produced worldwide. Knighted for his ‘services to the theatre’ in 1997, he is reported to be the most performed living playwright in the world. Notable successes include The Norman Conquests, Relatively Speaking, Bedroom Farce, A Chorus of Disapproval and Communicating Doors.
Following their successful tour of Absent Friends in 2015, Alan Ayckbourn’s much-loved classic forms the centrepiece of London Classic Theatre’s 20th Anniversary celebrations.
Venue: Cambridge Arts Theatre, 6 St Edward’s Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ
Dates: Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 September
Box Office: 01223 503 333 / www.cambridgeartstheatre.com
