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Classic Alan Ayckbourn play mixes farce and black comedy at Cambridge Arts Theatre
London Classic Theatre presents Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn at Cambridge Arts Theatre. Pictured are John Dorney as Geoffrey Jackson, Felicity Houlbrooke as Jane Hopcroft, and Paul Sandys as Sidney Hopcroft. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
An Alan Ayckbourn comedy about social climbing in the 1970s can be seen on stage in Cambridge next week.
London Classic Theatre reinvent the playwright’s 1972 classic Absurd Person Singular at Cambridge Arts Theatre from Tuesday, September 7 to Saturday, September 11.
It will be the first Ayckbourn play at the Cambridge theatre in St Edward’s Passage since 2017.
Paul Sandys, Graham O'Mara, Rosanna Miles, Felicity Houlbrooke, and Helen Keeley in Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
The play features three married couples, three kitchens, and 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 under way, 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.
Paul Sandys as Sidney Hopcroft in Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
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But Sidney’s star has begun to rise, and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.
Directed by Michael Cabot, Ayckbourn’s comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s suburbia fuses a potent mix of farce and black comedy.
Rosanna Miles as Marion, Graham O'Mara as Ronald Brewster-Wright, and Helen Keeley as Eva Jackson in Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
Performances at Cambridge Arts Theatre take place at 7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, with matinees at 2.30pm on the Thursday and Saturday.
Tickets cost from £20 to £35. All ticket prices include a £3 per-ticket booking fee.
Call the box office on 01223 503333 or book online at www.cambridgeartstheatre.com
Graham O'Mara as Ronald Brewster-Wright in Absurd Person Singular. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
Rosanna Miles as Marion Brewster-Wright in Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
Felicity Houlbrooke as Jane Hopcroft in Absurd Person Singular. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
Helen Keeley as Eva Jackson in Absurd Person Singular. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
John Dorney as Geoffrey Jackson in Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn, which can be seen at Cambridge Arts Theatre. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
London Classic Theatre presents Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn at Cambridge Arts Theatre. Pictured are John Dorney as Geoffrey Jackson, Felicity Houlbrooke as Jane Hopcroft, and Paul Sandys as Sidney Hopcroft. - Credit: Sheila Burnett
