Verlag:
Methuen Drama, London
;
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
First performed at London's Apollo Theatre in 1976, 'Confusions', a series of one-act plays, typifies Ayckbourn's particular brand of black comedy on human behaviour. The plays are alternately naturalistic, stylised and farcical, but underlying each...
mehr
First performed at London's Apollo Theatre in 1976, 'Confusions', a series of one-act plays, typifies Ayckbourn's particular brand of black comedy on human behaviour. The plays are alternately naturalistic, stylised and farcical, but underlying each is the echoing problem of profound loneliness. 'The Mother Figure' shows a mother unable to escape from baby talk; in 'The Drinking Companion' an absentee husband attempts seduction without success; in 'Between Mouthfuls' a waiter oversees a fraught dinner encounter. A garden party gets out of hand in 'Gosforth's Fête' while 'A Talk in the Park' is a revue style curtain call piece for five actors. Whether the comedies concern marital conflict, infidelity or motherhood; take place on a park bench or at a village fete, the characters are familiar and their cries for help instantly recognisable.
