Winners of the British All Winners and Glasgow International Drama Festivals
The structure of Private Fears In Public Places with its 54 scenes, multiple locations and characters crossing is one of the more complex found in an Ayckbourn play.
Dan: Engaged to Nicola; frequents hotel where Ambrose works; dates Imogen
Nicola: Engaged to Dan; client of Stewart
Stewart: Brother of Imogen; works with Charlotte; Nicola’s estate agent
Imogen: Sister of Stewart; dates Dan
Ambrose: Barman at the hotel Dan frequents; son of Arthur; employs Charlotte to care for Arthur
Charlotte: Works with Stewart; employed by Ambrose as a temporary carer for Arthur
Arthur (off-
PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES
Written by Alan Ayckbourne Directed by John Cartwright
Castle Studio, Wellingborough
14 -
Rehearsals are now well underway......with the following cast:
Dan -
Nicola -
Stewart -
Imogen -
Ambrose -
Charlotte -
Arthur -
Because of the play’s staging complexity, it works much better performed in the round
rather that end-
Helpfully, we’ve placed a seating plan here, so you can ‘bag’ where you intend to sit before you get there.... If you’re quick enough!
Allowing us to see things from the perspective of more than one character as a life casually brushes against another, Ayckbourn intrigues us with his dramatisation of everyday events. You read between the lines to draw your own conclusions and it's a strength of the play, as well as the acting, that you certainly find yourself wondering, not very optimistically, about these people's futures. Yet the humane sympathy the writer appears to have for his characters is never at the expense of a great line or situation. There are some tremendously funny moments in Private Fears despite the alternately bitter twists and mysterious turns as these fragments of human lives are turned over and inside out.
© Lynne Walker, The Independent, Thursday 07 September 2006
