'Bedroom Farce' For
Everyman
Everyman Playhouse
having hit the jackpot in no
uncertain tashion with their
current production of "The
Boy Friend" the hilarious
musical based on the 'twenties by Sandy Wilson, have
yet another laughter tonic
up their sleeves with Alan
Ayckbourn's smash hit
runaway success ''Bedroom
Farce''.
Gemini P r oduct ions which
will present thi s pl a y ea rlier
this ye a r broke m a ny records
in Dublin a n d not even warm
weather or the Horse Show
could detract from the huge
audiences which thronged
the theatre for 14 weeks.
In fact if the Theatre
Festival had not interrupted
the run it would have
continued for many more
weeks.
Ayckbourn, the author,
has the unusual distinction
of having no less than five of
his plays running in
London's West End at the
same time. He is a n author
who believes that the only
way to write a comedy is to
leave yourself short of time
and then rush into it at full
steam. At the end of every
year he writes his annual
comedy in brief fr enetic
bursts.
" Bedroom Farce" has its
share of Ayckbourn's special ·
delight in almos t mathematical construc tion. It deals
with four cou ples i n t h ree Mary Kearns, Maria
bed rooms over t wo Act s a nd M a c D e r m o t t roe, Des
t he act ion con cerns it self Nealon, Alan Stanford and
with one Satu rday ni~ht . Derek Youna.
Earnest and Delia! are past
The play will open on next
wh a t ever it was they were Tuesday at the Everyman
origin ally at, and he now Playhouse and as usual all
fusses over t he con dition of seats on that night will be
the roof j u st as she fusses 7 s p.
over
Jwr appearance.
Malcolm
a ct Kate have ~~·..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
just moved into their new
home and are about to
discover that not everything
in the bedroom is consta n tly
sturdy or exciting even with
a light veneer of youghful
pranks Nick and Jan h ave·
settled into some form of
normality but may be about
to go over the top in situations of strained backs and
strained old romantic relationships.
Finally Trevor and '
Susanna are in a constant
and endless storm of introspection dithering and
bungling, hurtling in and out
of everyone's bedroom but
their own . With such a cast
of characters the audience
can expect high jinks but at
the same time as always with
Ayckbourn there is a good
deal of truth and that
certain sting so that when
the chuckles, laughs and
outright guffaws have died
away the edge of truth and a
certain sadness remain. In
fact the characters are very
much like dozens of people
we all know with all their
huma n virtues and failings
but viewed. with Alan
Ayckbourn's clear eye for ·
malicious and mordant
comedy.
Those taking part in this
Gemini Production are well
known to theatregoers and,
indeed , to television
watchers - Fidelma Cullen,
Beryl Fagan , John Franklyn,