Ask The Archivist is a regular feature allowing you to put your Alan Ayckbourn related questions to the playwright's archivist Simon Murgatroyd.
If you have a question regarding any aspect of Alan's work, email it to: ayckbourn@gmail.com (labelled Ask The Archivist) and we'll publish any interesting questions.
Question: Soho Theatre is currently presenting the London premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's family play The Boy Who Fell Into A Book, what are the family plays?
Answer: The family plays are full length plays by Alan Ayckbourn and considered part of the official 76 play canon, but which are written for a family audience.
They are different to the plays which Alan has specifically written for children, which are not considered part of the full-length play canon, as they are intended to be enjoyed by adults and young people alike.
Alan Ayckbourn's first family play was Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays (1988) and was written for several reasons. Firstly, Alan had noted an increasing amount of young people visiting and enjoying his 'adult' plays and he wondered whether he could succesfully write something aimed slightly more at the younger generation, but which would be equally appreciated by an adult audience.
He also felt, at the time, very few people were taking theatre for young people seriously and that many plays and productions aimed for the lowest common denominator and underestimated, even patronised, young people. He believed then - and still passionately believes - that children are a sophisticated audience and you can deal with most of the same themes as in his 'adult' work, but it just has to be written in a way to hold their interest. He also believes as much as possible should be done to encourage young people to visit the theatre, hopefully encouraging an enthusiasm for live performance.
As of 2012, Alan Ayckbourn has written 12 family plays and these are: Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays, Invisible Friends, This Is Where We Came In, Callisto 5 (later revised as Callisto#7), My Very Own Story, The Musical Jigsaw Play, The Champion Of Paribanou, The Boy Who Fell Into A Book, Whenever, The Jollies, My Sister Sadie and Miss Yesterday.
You can find out more about the family plays in the Plays section of Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website.
Alan has also written a number of short plays specifically for either young people to perform (Gizmo & Ernie's Incredible Illucinations) as well as several plays specifically for the youngest theatre audiences from pre-school to the age of eight (The Princess And The Mouse, The Ten Magic Bridges, Miranda's Magic Mirror, The Girl Who Lost Her Voice).
To submit your question to Ask The Archivist, email Simon Murgatroyd at: ayckbourn@gmail.com labelled Ask The Archivist.
