Damsels In Distress (plays)

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Damsels in Distress (trilogy)
Written by	Alan Ayckbourn
Characters	Troy Stephens / Sam Berryman / Justin Lazenby Sorrel Saxon / Tracy Taylor / Julie-Ann Jobson Kelly Butcher / Rosie Seymore / Paige Petite Dan Endicott / Tommy Angel / Micky Rale Leo Tyler / Maurice Whickett / Derek Jobson Grace Page / Edna Stricken / Dee Jobson Lynette Saxon / Annette Sefton-Wilcox / Arabella Lazenby
Date of premiere	24th May 2001 (GamePlan), 3rd July 2001 (FlatSpin), 4th September 2001 (Roleplay)
Place of premiere	Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Original language	English
Subject	Various
Genre	Various
Setting	Various flats, London Docklands, 2001
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Damsels in Distress is a trilogy of 2001 Plays written 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 set. Although the plays loosely shared some common themes, the three stories were independent of each other and unconnected.

Contents 1 Background 2 Characters 3 Setting 4 The Plays 4.1 GamePlan 4.2 FlatSpin 4.3 RolePlay 5 Productions 6 Critical Review 7 References

[edit] Background

The Damsels in Distress trilogy partly inspired as a wish to revive a repertory format, where plays were chosen and written for specific resident actors - a format largely abandoned by the Stephen Joseph Theatre since its move from the Westwood site in 1996. It was also written at a time when the theatre was also facing financial pressure. Both issues were tackled by writing a set of plays which could be performed by the same company of seven actors available at the time. It was originally planned for Damsels in Distress to the two plays, GamePlan, and FlatSpin. However, during production Alan Ayckbourn had an idea for a third play, RolePlay. After getting agreement from the cast to take on a third play, the summer programme was rescheduled include this play like in the season.^[1]

As well as sharing the same seven actors, the trilogy was also written to use the same set: a flat in the London Docklands, where Alan Ayckbourn himself owns a flat. Although there was no intentional link between the plays other than a female character in some sort of trouble, there are a number of common themes arising from the plays' settings: flats owned by well-to-do Londoners who know little of who their neighbours are or what they do; and seedy vices left behind from London's old East End coming back to haunt them.^[2] The plays also share themes common to most Ayckbourn plays.

[edit] Characters

Each of the three plays has its own cast of seven characters. In the original production, the twenty-one characters were cast as follows ^[1][3][4][5]:

Actor in original production	Actor required	GamePlan	FlatSpin	RolePlay
Bill Champion	Male, younger	Troy Stephens	Sam Berryman	Justin Jazenby
Saskia Butler	Female, younger	Sorrel Saxon	Tracy Taylor	Julie-Ann Jobson
Alison Pargeter	Female, younger	Kelly Butcher	Rosie Seymore	Paige Petite
Tim Faraday	Male, older	Dan Endicott	Tommy Angel	Micky Rale
Robert Austin	Male, older	Leo Tyler	Maurice Whickett	Derek Jobson
Beth Tuckley	Female, older	Grace Page	Edna Stricken	Dee Jobson
Jacqueline King	Female, older	Lynette Saxon	Annette Sefton-Wilcox	Arabella Lazenby

[edit] Setting

All three plays are single-scene plays, written to use the same set of a flat in the London Docklands, although each play is set in a different flat. The set includes a living area, kitchen and balcony over the river, all of which have different functions in different plays. The plays were originally performed in the Round for their original performances at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. However, in subsequent productions elsewhere they were re-staged for the Proscenium.

[edit] The Plays

[edit] GamePlan

Main Article: GamePlan

The first play, GamePlan, is the darkest of the three plays, and covers the theme of teenage prostitution - a theme far more contemporary than those often expecting from Ayckbourn plays. The plays centres around Lynette Saxon, a once-successful dotcom businesswoman now reduced to cleaning the offices she once managed, her 16-year-old daughter Sorrel, and Sorrel's friend, Kelly Butcher. Sorrel intends to support herself and her mother by setting herself up as a high-class call girl (inspired by a somewhat romanticised account from a former pupil), and enlists Kelly as her "maid". Sorrel is convinced she has everything worked out and does not see selling sex as a big deal. However, Sorrel's plan starts to unravel when her first client arrives, especially after he dies of a heart attack in her mother's flat.

[edit] FlatSpin

Main Article: FlatSpin

The second play, FlatSpin, is a comedy thriller. Rosie Seymore is an out-of-work actress openly desperate for a job and a man. She is house-sitting for a flat owned by a Joanna Rupelford, when a handsome stranger, Sam Berryman, arrives and eventually tells her she is the most beautiful woman she has ever met and asks her out on a date, even though he appears to have mistaken her for the flat's owner. Rosie, going along with this assumed identity, allows Sam back to the flat this evening to cook her dinner. The date is going extraordinarily well until Sam is suddenly called away, only for a couple of heavies to return with Sam later. It turns out that Sam, the heavies and the flat are all part of an elaborate drugs sting due to take place that evening. With Rosie having shown herself to the drug courier they intend to entrap, Rosie is talked into doing the sting herself.

[edit] RolePlay

Main Article: RolePlay

RolePlay was the play written as the afterthought, but turned out to be the most successful play of the three. The play centres on a dinner party held by Justin Lazenby and Julie-Ann Jobson, where they intend to announce their engagement. Before the dinner begins, there are already signs of tension: Julie-Ann gets overly frantic about making the meal perfect for her parents (her father, it later turns out, is a right-wing bigot), and Justin's alcoholic mother is clearly going to arrive paralytic. However, the biggest complication turns out to be when Paige Petite climbs on to the balcony, on the run from her violent boyfriend. Trapped in the flat by her minder, Justine and Julie-Ann are forced to keep up appearances during the dinner whilst the stand-off is played out.

[edit] Productions

GamePlan premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre on the 24th May 2001,^[3], followed by FlatSpin on the 3rd July^[4] and RolePlay on the 4th September 2001^[5]. The production team for all three plays was:

• Director - Alan Ayckbourn
• Design - Roger Glossop
• Lighting - Mick Hughes
• Costumes - Christine Wall
• Music - Keith Jarrett

In the subsequent tour, the triology was chosen as the inaugural productions for the newly-built Gala Theatre in Durham in January 2002^[6]. The plays began a West End run at the Duchess Theatre on the 7th September 2002 with the same cast and production team.

[edit] Critical Review

The reviews of the plays were broadly positive ^[2], though RolePlay got the most strongest reviews and FlatSpin got the weakest ^[1]. One of the most positive comments came from Michael Billington from the Guardian who dubbed the cast "The Magnificent Seven".^[7].

However, the success of RolePlay over the other two productions eventually led to the West End run producing this play far more than the other two, until eventually GamePlan and Flatspin were only shown on Saturdays, causing considerable upset amongst Alan Ayckbourn and the cast^[1][2]. As a result, Alan Ayckbourn was reported as threatening to boycott the West End outright, as well as expressing his disdain for the West End casting film stars unsuited to the stage ^[8]. Although it was not reported word-for-word, there have been few Ayckbourn plays produced in the London since Damsels in Distress and fewer Ayckbourn plays still performed by his theatre company.^[1]

Alison Pargeter won Best Newcomer in the Critics' Circle Awards for her roles Kelly Butcher, Rosie Seymour and Paige Petite.^[2]

[edit] References