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A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 5m
Alan Ayckbourn
The reigning king of English comedy strikes off in a new direction with this gleeful fantasy. A couple is preparing for an al fresco party while their hapless ex son in law is holed up in their summer house, drinking off his divorce while he completes illustrations for a new edition of Beauty and the Beast. When he conjures Belle to life and she appears in the garden unable to understand English unless it is sung, her fantastical presence wreaks havoc with the all too real lives around her.
The reigning king of English comedy strikes off in a new direction with this gleeful fantasy. A couple is preparing for an al fresco party while their hapless ex son in law is holed up in their summer house, drinking off his divorce while he completes illustrations for a new edition of Beauty and the Beast. When he conjures Belle to life and she appears in the garden unable to understand English unless it is sung, her fantastical presence wreaks havoc with the all too real lives around her. The story develops into a cliff hanger when the Beast also appears and carries off the strident ex wife. This outrageously comic battle of the sexes delightfully illustrates the disparity between romantic ideals and earthly reality, proving once again that true love is impossible but necessary.
"A masterpiece in plot design with some marvelous characters." - Stage & TV Today
"It is almost impossible not to be seduced by this fanciful flight of the imagination." - Daily Telegraph
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A playwright and theatre director, to date Alan Ayckbourn has written 89 plays – Family Album attracted four-star reviews when it premiered in September 2022 at the Stephen Joseph, where nearly all his plays are first staged.
However, this year he will stage his 88th play Welc ...