| "Way Upstream" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written By | Alan Ayckbourn | |||
| Characters | Keith June Alistair Emma Mrs. Hatfield Vince Fleur |
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| Date premiered | 2 October 1981 | |||
| Place premiered | Stephen Joseph Theatre (Westwood site), Scarborough | |||
| Original language | English | |||
| Subject | Power struggles | |||
| Official site | ||||
| Ayckbourn plays chronology | ||||
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Way Upstream is a play by Alan Ayckbourn. It was first performed, under Ayckbourn's direction, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, "in the round" at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, on 2 October 1981.[1] Although realistic in style, with a setting of a hired cabin cruiser on an English river, it can be read as an allegory of the political state of England at the time, with the violent resolution of the usurping captain's tyrannical regime taking place at "Armageddon Bridge", and crew members "Alistair" and "Emma" (representing an innocent "Adam" and "Eve") making a new start at the end.[2][3]
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The London première was at the proscenium Lyttelton Theatre on 4 October 1982, with Ayckbourn again directing.[4] It had been postponed since August; the production became notorious because of its many technical problems during rehearsal, most spectacularly the bursting of the water tank which flooded the National Theatre.
At the much-delayed première the excitement of the technical problems distorted the appreciation of some critics with Jack Tinker, representative of the populist Daily Mail, turning up wearing wellington boots.[5] Most, however, found a work of "genuine merit".[2][6]
It is possible to stage the work without a flooded set and it remains popular with both professional companies and amateur societies.[7] It was revived at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in October 2003 and has twice been filmed.[8][9]