IN a typically busy Alan Ayckbourn summer by the sea in Scarborough, he is contributing three shows to the Stephen Joseph Theatre season.
Coming later, from from September 8 to October 8, will be the revival of his 1987 look into the android future, Henceforward, set 40 years hence and now catching up with his predictions, preceded by the world premiere of his two interlinking lunchtime theatre shows, Consuming Passions, in the SJT Bistro from August 5 to September 8 and the McCarthy from September 16 to October 8.
More of which later, but first comes a new Ayckbourn theatrical experience in the interactive form of Karaoke Theatre Company, presented by the SJT in association with Ayckbourn in the Round on various dates from tomorrow until October 7.
In the show will be York actress Rachel Caffrey, Louise Shuttleworth, Leigh Symonds, Jessie Hart, Andy Cryer and Sarah Fallon taking on the guise of actors Karen Drake, Anna Raleigh, Rufus Wellington, Alyssia Cook, Oliver Nelson and Edie Hardy, each with a back story and credits list. You will note their first names spell out the word Karaoke, well they almost spell out Karaoke, explaining the company name.
Alyssia Cook (Jessie Hart), Oliver Nelson (Andy Cryer) and Karen Drake Rachel Caffrey) in rehearsals. Picture: Tony Batholomew
One letter is missing, however: the letter K, and that is where you, should you be so bold, can play your part in Karaoke Theatre Company, because "what actually happens during a performance is largely up to you, the audience".
Confused? I must admit I was when reading the SJT summer brochure, trying to work out what exactly lay in store, but that brings a smile to Alan Ayckbourn's face. "Fair enough. I have confused everyone with this as it was due to be my 80th play," he says.
"I thought, 'Oh no, that's going to be a ponderous event', so instead, I don't even consider this as a play but as a party, where we form a company, and not an SJT company but a separate company called The Karaoke Theatre Company, who I'm working with for four or five weeks, quite a short time, where they develop their own characters for the theatre programme. So they're a sort of fictional troupe, probably based in somewhere like Dewsbury."
By now, says Alan, they are calling themselves by their stage names and he can watch them, from a "respectful distance", as the show takes shape ahead of tomorrow's opening performance. "I've given them a sort of half and half script, where they have gaps for addresses to the audience, which will all be improvised," he explains.
"I've provided them with five set scripts in different dramatic styles, such as a farce, Victorian, Georgian and 1930s pieces, and I've said 'Deviate from these at your peril, but everything else you can improvise', so they'll adhere to the sketches quite tightly, 20 minutes each one, but with room for improvisation."
Rufus Wellington (Leigh Symonds) and writer-director Alan Ayckbourn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Ayckbourn's playful new work is in part a response to the fad for audience involvement in "immersive" theatre shows, as favoured by the likes of Alexander Wright's York and Stillington company The Flanagan Collective.
"The evening is designed slightly for people like me who normally would confront a company like this with horror, where there is audience participation and improvisation, but we're gently lulling people into it; we don't throw them in at the deep end; we let them paddle at the shallow end," says Alan.
During the rehearsals, test groups have been helping the actors in their preparations. "We've had no more than 12 people at a time and you can see some of them thinking, 'I wouldn't mind doing that', and once one of them has 'entered the water' and says 'ooh, it's warm in here', then the others will join them," says Alan.
The rehearsals have been a new experience for the writer-director at 77. "Normally, I am sort of terribly control-freakish," he admits. "I love my productions to be absolutely meticulous by the time they reach the stage, but this time I've whipped the gang plank away and the play is free to fall and I've no idea where it will land, but with 'play number 80', that's fine."
Alan Ayckbourn's Karaoke Theatre Company, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in rep from July 8 to October 7 on various dates. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com
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