News: London Classic Theatre announce UK tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular

London Classic Theatre announce new dates for their UK tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular, originally postponed due to the pandemic. The production celebrates the 20th anniversary, directed by Michael Cabot.

Cast includes John Dorney as Geoffrey Jackson, Felicity Houlbrooke as Jane Hopcroft, Helen Keeley as Eva Jackson, Rosanna Miles as Marion Brewster-Wright, Graham O’Mara as Ronald Brewster-Wright and Paul Sandys as Sidney Hopcroft.

The UK tour is set to open at Derby Theatre on 16 June, before visiting venues in Coventry, Malvern, Guildford, Peterborough, West-Super-Mare, Cheltenham, Bury St Edmunds, Bath, Doncaster, Winchester, Ilfracombe, Chelmsford and Exeter, ending at Theatr Clwyd on 16 October.

Absurd Person Singular follows three married couples. Three kitchens. Three Christmas parties. Sidney Hopcroft, a small-time tradesman, persuades wife Jane to throw a party hoping to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As celebrations begin, 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. But Sidney’s star has begun to rise and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.

The production first premiered in 1972, earning the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.

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