Absurd Person Singular
Encyclopedia
Absurd Person Singular is a 1972 play by Alan Ayckbourn
. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples. Each act takes place at a Christmas celebration at one of the couples' homes on successive Christmas Eve
s.
on 4 July 1972, transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre
in July 1973, where it ran until 30 September 1974, completing a run of 973 performances.
Its official New York Broadway début was at the Music Box Theatre
on October 8, 1974. It ran for 591 performances in its first run on Broadway (through March 1976). It was revived on Broadway on October 18, 2005 at the Biltmore Theatre, for 56 performances.
The BBC
produced a television drama, adapted from the play, first broadcast on January 1, 1985. It was directed by Michael Simpson and starred John Baddeley, Cheryl Campbell
, Michael Gambon
, Nicky Henson
, Lesley Joseph
, Maureen Lipman
, Geoffrey Palmer
and Prunella Scales
.
The play was revived in the West End at the Whitehall Theatre, May 1990; and at the Garrick Theatre
in December 2007.
A new production was staged during May 2011 at the new Curve Theatre in Leicester, starring Tracy-Ann Oberman
and Louise Plowright
and directed by Paul Kerryson.
in this piece. Sidney's loyal wife, she's not much brighter than he is, but she's equally eager to please. Unlike Marion and Eva, she also has a knack for the housework in which she takes refuge from the complexity and difficulty of the world. She takes most of her social cues from her husband and would do almost anything to help him succeed, but isn't motivated by greed or social standing: she just wants a comfortable living and a happy family.
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three 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...
. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples. Each act takes place at a Christmas celebration at one of the couples' homes on successive Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
s.
Production history
The play made its London début at the Criterion TheatreCriterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
on 4 July 1972, transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
in July 1973, where it ran until 30 September 1974, completing a run of 973 performances.
Its official New York Broadway début was at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
on October 8, 1974. It ran for 591 performances in its first run on Broadway (through March 1976). It was revived on Broadway on October 18, 2005 at the Biltmore Theatre, for 56 performances.
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
produced a television drama, adapted from the play, first broadcast on January 1, 1985. It was directed by Michael Simpson and starred John Baddeley, Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell is an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early years:Cheryl Campbell was educated at Francis Bacon Grammar School, St Albans; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art...
, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
, Nicky Henson
Nicky Henson
Nicholas Victor Leslie "Nicky" Henson is an English actor who has portrayed many roles since 1963. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977. He was born in London.-Early life:...
, Lesley Joseph
Lesley Joseph
Lesley D Joseph is an English actress and broadcaster.-Life and career:Joseph was born in Northampton. She is best known for starring in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989–1998, in which she played Dorien Green, the Jewish next-door neighbour of the main characters Sharon and Tracy...
, Maureen Lipman
Maureen Lipman
Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...
, Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
and Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
.
The play was revived in the West End at the Whitehall Theatre, May 1990; and at the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in December 2007.
A new production was staged during May 2011 at the new Curve Theatre in Leicester, starring Tracy-Ann Oberman
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Tracy-Ann Oberman is an English television, theatre and radio actress, known for her role as Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera Eastenders...
and Louise Plowright
Louise Plowright
Louise Plowright is a British actress, who trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and first came to prominence playing abrasive hairdresser Julie Cooper in the television soap opera EastEnders from 1989 to 1990....
and directed by Paul Kerryson.
Sidney
A contractor eager for social and professional advancement, Sidney will do anything to impress his perceived superiors—at the expense of his dignity and marriage. Sidney is socially inept, and shares that innocence with his wife, keeping their marriage together. As the play progresses, he becomes wealthier and wealthier, until eventually the friends he was once desperate to impress are now courting him as their own fortunes sink lower and lower. By the final act success has transformed Sidney's innocence into something approaching macabre sadism: in the earlier acts, the other couples view him with indulgent contempt and tolerate his childishness, but as the play progresses and he acquires money and power, they find themselves compelled to take him much more seriously, until self-preservation dictates they play along with his games.Jane
Jane is the most sympathetic characterSympathetic character
A sympathetic character is a fictional character in a story with whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, if not necessarily admire. Protagonists, almost by definition, fit into the category of sympathetic character; so, however, do many supporting characters and even...
in this piece. Sidney's loyal wife, she's not much brighter than he is, but she's equally eager to please. Unlike Marion and Eva, she also has a knack for the housework in which she takes refuge from the complexity and difficulty of the world. She takes most of her social cues from her husband and would do almost anything to help him succeed, but isn't motivated by greed or social standing: she just wants a comfortable living and a happy family.