.gif)
FlatSpin (play)
Encyclopedia
FlatSpin is a 2001 play by British
playwright
Alan Ayckbourn
, the second in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress
(GamePlan
and Roleplay
being parts one and three.) It is about an actress called Rosie Seymour who accepts a date with a mysterious Sam Berryman, who seems to have mistaken her for a Joanna Rupelford.
FlatSpin, along with GamePlan
, was originally intended to be part of a pair of plays, both set in the London Docklands, and both using the same cast of seven. Ayckbourn has a flat in the Docklands, where he observed the neighbours do not know each other well and strange things can happen under their noses. The pair of plays was eventually joined by a third, RolePlay
, written as an afterthought, and the trilogy, Damsels In Distress
, was shown in the Stephen Joseph Theatre
's 2001 season. Like the other two plays, this drew some inspiration from the London Docklands.
Originally intended as a diptych, FlatSpin served as the contrast to the much darker GamePlan. As such, it had some of the lightness associated with Ayckbourn's early comedies.
Rosie and Sam are the central characters; the other characters make appearances in one or two scenes.
for its original performances at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
. However, it was adapted for the Proscenium
for subsequent performances elsewhere.
The play is performed in two Acts, each divided into two scenes.
Before Rosie can despair too long, Sam Berryman calls, introducing himself as a neighbour. After a few misunderstandings (including mistaking Rosie for a lesbian when Rosie says "it was between me and another girl"), Sam leaves, and comes back in again to start afresh. After further confusions, he goes out and comes back in again, and this time introduces himself, tells Rosie that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and asks to take her out for dinner. Rosie, having already warmed to his magic tricks and stories of visiting sick children in hospital, accepts immediately. The only problem is that Sam assumes that Rosie is Joanna Rupelford.
In the second scene, Rosie waits for Sam to come and cook dinner in her flat. Rosie tries on Joanna Rupelford's dresses. And the spanner in the works is that a woman keeps trying to contact Joanna, first by phone, and then in person. Rosie hurries her away, and the date itself works extremely well – so well, in fact, that Sam's hands-on demonstration with Rosie of how to roll gnocchi
ends up with them kissing on the work surface.
Realising the cookery will never be completed, Rosie goes to the bedroom. But before Sam joins her, he makes a telephone call. Whoever he calls clearly insists Sam leave the flat, and leave now. Rosie is left on her own, thinking she has been left in the lurch yet again (albeit before sex and not after, which usually seems to be the case for her).
Act Two follows immediately from the end of Act One. Rosie is suddenly confronted by two black-clad figures, Maurice Whickett and Tracy Taylor, the latter of whom is furious with her. When Sam returns, it is clear he knows these two strangers. It soon transpires that the three of them were all part of a sting: Joanna Rupelford does not actually exist, the flat has been set up for six months, there are cameras all over the flat (including the bedroom, which is some consolation to Rosie for earlier), and the operation to entrap a drugs courier is due to take place that night. Maurice is angry with Sam, who evidently does this sort of thing all the time, for disrupting the plan.
The problem now is that Tracy was going to impersonate Joanna, but Edna Stricken - the woman who Rosie hurried away earlier - now believes that Rosie is Joanna, spoiling Tracy's big chance (an analogy to Rosie losing her big chance as Jane Eyre). The only chance of success now is if Rosie continues impersonating Joanna. Sam persuades Rosie, against her better judgement, to do so.
In the final scene, Rosie is waiting in the flat ready. She has been reassured that she will be watched on camera, and help will come if there's any trouble. She is in the company of Tommy Angel, an ex-SAS bodyguard who makes wildly optimistic passes at Rosie, such as suggesting that many people find this sort of danger arousing. Tommy then asks Rosie to hit him on the head to show how tough he is. Rosie does so, and Tommy instantly falls unconscious, out of view. Seconds later, Edna calls at the door. Rosie plays the part of Joanna well, and hands over the case of money from a hidden compartment in a table as soon as she sees the drugs. Unfortunately, when Edna inspects the briefcase, it is full of cut newspaper instead of money. Even though Rosie knows nothing about it, Edna tries to punish Rosie by spraying acid in her eyes. After a struggle, Edna catches her and is about to do the deed when Tracy comes in and brutally incapacitates her.
With the reason for the late arrival of help explained (the surveillance team got bored and watched the football instead), and Edna removed, Maurice has mixed reactions about the outcome - he got the suspect and the drugs, but he does not relish the prospect of explaining the missing money. He, Tracy and Tommy leave, and then Sam retrieves the real briefcase full of money from the extra secret compartment in the table that Maurice didn't know about. He promises Rosie a tomorrow richer in every way, and they disappear into the shower. Then Maurice and Tracy return and take the money, with Tracy giving Maurice a kiss. They depart, with Maurice quietly wishing Rosie the luck she'll need.
, with an opening night on 28 June 2001, and a premiere on 23 July 2001. It featured the following cast:
The production team was the following:
The production then toured. The first West End
performance was made at the Duchess Theatre
, opening on 7 September 2001, and featured the same cast and production team. However, the success of RolePlay
over the other two productions led to FlatSpin being sidelined, along with GamePlan
, until eventually it was shown only once a week, to the disappointment of both Ayckbourn and the cast.
There are two further professional productions recorded at the Arts Archive since the original Stephen Joseph Theatre run, slightly behind GamePlan and RolePlay.
play would be performed later in the season. As a result, there were few stand-alone reviews of FlatSpin, with many reviewers choosing to wait for RolePlay
in order to review the plays together. This did not stop Jeremy Kingston of The Times
giving a broadly positive review of the play, in spite of some reservations about some logical flaws, in particular singling out commendation for Alison Pargeter for her performance as Rosie. Charles Hutchinson of the Yorkshire Evening Press also gave praise for her performance, noting that until now her career had consisted mostly of child and teenage roles (GamePlan
included), and writing "... it is like that moment when the librarian takes off her glasses".
When the production was reviewed as part of the whole trilogy, both in Scarborough and on the tour, it generally enjoyed a good reception as part of the package. By now, the play had been compared at least twice to the film North by Northwest
. However, the play was again criticised for the holes in its logic, leading some reviewers to consider the play the weakest of the three.
Alison Pargeter
's role as Rosie Seymour contributed to her winning the Best Newcomer in the Critics' Circle Awards.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Alan Ayckbourn
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...
, the second in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress
Damsels in Distress (plays)
Damsels in Distress is a trilogy of plays written in 2001 by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The three plays, GamePlan, FlatSpin and RolePlay, were originally performed as a set by the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company . The plays were written to be performed by the same seven actors using the same...
(GamePlan
GamePlan (play)
GamePlan is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the first in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress The darkest of the three plays, it is about a teenage girl who tries to support herself and her mother through prostitution.-Background:See also: Background on Damsels in Distress...
and Roleplay
RolePlay (play)
RolePlay is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the third in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress...
being parts one and three.) It is about an actress called Rosie Seymour who accepts a date with a mysterious Sam Berryman, who seems to have mistaken her for a Joanna Rupelford.
Background
See also: Background on Damsels in Distress (plays) page.FlatSpin, along with GamePlan
GamePlan (play)
GamePlan is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the first in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress The darkest of the three plays, it is about a teenage girl who tries to support herself and her mother through prostitution.-Background:See also: Background on Damsels in Distress...
, was originally intended to be part of a pair of plays, both set in the London Docklands, and both using the same cast of seven. Ayckbourn has a flat in the Docklands, where he observed the neighbours do not know each other well and strange things can happen under their noses. The pair of plays was eventually joined by a third, RolePlay
RolePlay (play)
RolePlay is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the third in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress...
, written as an afterthought, and the trilogy, Damsels In Distress
Damsels in Distress (plays)
Damsels in Distress is a trilogy of plays written in 2001 by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The three plays, GamePlan, FlatSpin and RolePlay, were originally performed as a set by the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company . The plays were written to be performed by the same seven actors using the same...
, was shown in the Stephen Joseph Theatre
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....
's 2001 season. Like the other two plays, this drew some inspiration from the London Docklands.
Originally intended as a diptych, FlatSpin served as the contrast to the much darker GamePlan. As such, it had some of the lightness associated with Ayckbourn's early comedies.
Characters
As part of the Damsels in Distress trilogy, FlatSpin was written to use the same seven actors as the other two plays in the series. In this play, the characters are:- Rosie Seymour, mid-twenties, out-of-work actress, currently a flat-minder
- Sam Berryman, thirties, something secret
- Annette Sefton-Wilcox, late thirties, property company representative
- Edna Stricken, forties, drug courier
- Maurice Whickett, fifties, Sam's boss
- Tracy Taylor, twenties, Maurice's favourite "helper"
- Tommy Angel, thirties, thickset ex-SAS bodyguard
Rosie and Sam are the central characters; the other characters make appearances in one or two scenes.
Setting
The entire play is set in flat belonging to a Joanna Rupelford, on the riverside in the London Docklands. As part of Damsels in Distress, the play was written to use the identical set to the other two plays. As with most Ayckbourn plays, it was originally performed in the RoundTheatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
for its original performances at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
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....
. However, it was adapted for the Proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
for subsequent performances elsewhere.
The play is performed in two Acts, each divided into two scenes.
Synopsis
At the beginning of the play, Annette Sefton-Wilcox introduces Rosie Seymour to one of several flats she is minding for a few days. This flat belongs to a Joanna Rupelford, who never seems to be at home (to the point where the labels are still on the pans). In the conversation, it is disclosed that Rosie is an actress with little success behind her (her only role so far being a rabbit in a miserable touring children's production), and no boyfriend, and that she is openly desperate for both. Her one hope is that she is down to the last two for a big role as Jane Eyre, but just after Annette leaves, Rosie receives a call from her agent tell her the part went to the other girl.Before Rosie can despair too long, Sam Berryman calls, introducing himself as a neighbour. After a few misunderstandings (including mistaking Rosie for a lesbian when Rosie says "it was between me and another girl"), Sam leaves, and comes back in again to start afresh. After further confusions, he goes out and comes back in again, and this time introduces himself, tells Rosie that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and asks to take her out for dinner. Rosie, having already warmed to his magic tricks and stories of visiting sick children in hospital, accepts immediately. The only problem is that Sam assumes that Rosie is Joanna Rupelford.
In the second scene, Rosie waits for Sam to come and cook dinner in her flat. Rosie tries on Joanna Rupelford's dresses. And the spanner in the works is that a woman keeps trying to contact Joanna, first by phone, and then in person. Rosie hurries her away, and the date itself works extremely well – so well, in fact, that Sam's hands-on demonstration with Rosie of how to roll gnocchi
Gnocchi
Gnocchi are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg, and cheese, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. The smaller forms are called gnocchetti....
ends up with them kissing on the work surface.
Realising the cookery will never be completed, Rosie goes to the bedroom. But before Sam joins her, he makes a telephone call. Whoever he calls clearly insists Sam leave the flat, and leave now. Rosie is left on her own, thinking she has been left in the lurch yet again (albeit before sex and not after, which usually seems to be the case for her).
Act Two follows immediately from the end of Act One. Rosie is suddenly confronted by two black-clad figures, Maurice Whickett and Tracy Taylor, the latter of whom is furious with her. When Sam returns, it is clear he knows these two strangers. It soon transpires that the three of them were all part of a sting: Joanna Rupelford does not actually exist, the flat has been set up for six months, there are cameras all over the flat (including the bedroom, which is some consolation to Rosie for earlier), and the operation to entrap a drugs courier is due to take place that night. Maurice is angry with Sam, who evidently does this sort of thing all the time, for disrupting the plan.
The problem now is that Tracy was going to impersonate Joanna, but Edna Stricken - the woman who Rosie hurried away earlier - now believes that Rosie is Joanna, spoiling Tracy's big chance (an analogy to Rosie losing her big chance as Jane Eyre). The only chance of success now is if Rosie continues impersonating Joanna. Sam persuades Rosie, against her better judgement, to do so.
In the final scene, Rosie is waiting in the flat ready. She has been reassured that she will be watched on camera, and help will come if there's any trouble. She is in the company of Tommy Angel, an ex-SAS bodyguard who makes wildly optimistic passes at Rosie, such as suggesting that many people find this sort of danger arousing. Tommy then asks Rosie to hit him on the head to show how tough he is. Rosie does so, and Tommy instantly falls unconscious, out of view. Seconds later, Edna calls at the door. Rosie plays the part of Joanna well, and hands over the case of money from a hidden compartment in a table as soon as she sees the drugs. Unfortunately, when Edna inspects the briefcase, it is full of cut newspaper instead of money. Even though Rosie knows nothing about it, Edna tries to punish Rosie by spraying acid in her eyes. After a struggle, Edna catches her and is about to do the deed when Tracy comes in and brutally incapacitates her.
With the reason for the late arrival of help explained (the surveillance team got bored and watched the football instead), and Edna removed, Maurice has mixed reactions about the outcome - he got the suspect and the drugs, but he does not relish the prospect of explaining the missing money. He, Tracy and Tommy leave, and then Sam retrieves the real briefcase full of money from the extra secret compartment in the table that Maurice didn't know about. He promises Rosie a tomorrow richer in every way, and they disappear into the shower. Then Maurice and Tracy return and take the money, with Tracy giving Maurice a kiss. They depart, with Maurice quietly wishing Rosie the luck she'll need.
Productions
The play was first performed at the Stephen Joseph TheatreStephen 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....
, with an opening night on 28 June 2001, and a premiere on 23 July 2001. It featured the following cast:
- Edna Stricken - Jacqueline KingJacqueline King-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
- Tracy Taylor - Saskia Butler
- Rosie Seymour - Alison PargeterAlison PargeterAlison Pargeter is an English actress who played the roles of stalker Sarah Cairns in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, also Mary Slessor in a 11-part television series of Mary Slessor, and the Nag's Head barmaid called Val in the BBC Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.-Theatre:Pargeter was a...
- Maurice Whickett - Robert Austin
- Tommy Angel - Tim Faraday
- Annette Sefton-Wilcox - Beth Tuckey
- Sam Berryman - Bill Champion
The production team was the following:
- Director - Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir 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...
- Design - Roger Glossop
- Lighting - Mick Hughes
- Costumes - Christine Wall
- Music - Keith Jarrett
The production then toured. The first West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
performance was made at the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
, opening on 7 September 2001, and featured the same cast and production team. However, the success of RolePlay
RolePlay (play)
RolePlay is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the third in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress...
over the other two productions led to FlatSpin being sidelined, along with GamePlan
GamePlan (play)
GamePlan is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the first in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress The darkest of the three plays, it is about a teenage girl who tries to support herself and her mother through prostitution.-Background:See also: Background on Damsels in Distress...
, until eventually it was shown only once a week, to the disappointment of both Ayckbourn and the cast.
There are two further professional productions recorded at the Arts Archive since the original Stephen Joseph Theatre run, slightly behind GamePlan and RolePlay.
Critical Reviews
Shortly before FlatSpin was premiered, it was announced that a third Damsels In DistressDamsels in Distress (plays)
Damsels in Distress is a trilogy of plays written in 2001 by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The three plays, GamePlan, FlatSpin and RolePlay, were originally performed as a set by the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company . The plays were written to be performed by the same seven actors using the same...
play would be performed later in the season. As a result, there were few stand-alone reviews of FlatSpin, with many reviewers choosing to wait for RolePlay
RolePlay (play)
RolePlay is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the third in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress...
in order to review the plays together. This did not stop Jeremy Kingston of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
giving a broadly positive review of the play, in spite of some reservations about some logical flaws, in particular singling out commendation for Alison Pargeter for her performance as Rosie. Charles Hutchinson of the Yorkshire Evening Press also gave praise for her performance, noting that until now her career had consisted mostly of child and teenage roles (GamePlan
GamePlan (play)
GamePlan is a 2001 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, the first in a trilogy of plays called Damsels In Distress The darkest of the three plays, it is about a teenage girl who tries to support herself and her mother through prostitution.-Background:See also: Background on Damsels in Distress...
included), and writing "... it is like that moment when the librarian takes off her glasses".
When the production was reviewed as part of the whole trilogy, both in Scarborough and on the tour, it generally enjoyed a good reception as part of the package. By now, the play had been compared at least twice to the film North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
. However, the play was again criticised for the holes in its logic, leading some reviewers to consider the play the weakest of the three.
Alison Pargeter
Alison Pargeter
Alison Pargeter is an English actress who played the roles of stalker Sarah Cairns in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, also Mary Slessor in a 11-part television series of Mary Slessor, and the Nag's Head barmaid called Val in the BBC Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.-Theatre:Pargeter was a...
's role as Rosie Seymour contributed to her winning the Best Newcomer in the Critics' Circle Awards.