A Word from Our Sponsor
| A Word from Our Sponsor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Written by | Alan Ayckbourn | ||
| Characters |
Harry Janice Gussie Francis Nonie Rache Earl Valda Valder | ||
| Date premiered | 20 April 1995 | ||
| Place premiered | Stephen Joseph Theatre (Westwood site), Scarborough | ||
| Original language | English | ||
| Subject | Temptation | ||
| Official site | |||
| Ayckbourn chronology | |||
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A Word from Our Sponsor is a 1995 musical by Alan Ayckbourn and John Pattison. It was the final Ayckbourn play to be premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre's old Westwood site. It is about a vicar, who is tempted by the devil (Valda/Valder) offering a sponsorship deal for dubious return favours.
This play was one of Ayckbourn's less successful works, but the production was marred most of all by the death of a member of the cast, Sophie Winter, who collapsed the afternoon before the final Scarborough performance and died the day. As a respected member of the company, a memorial was made to her in the theatre, and a trust in her name was set up to sponsor new plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre between 1996 and 2008.
It is also the name of a short-story written by Fredric Brown in 1951.