Damsels In Distress - Alan Ayckbourn
Damsels in Distress is a trilogy of plays written in 2001 by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The three plays, GamePlan, FlatSpin and RolePlay, were originally performed as a set by the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company (SJT). The plays were written to be performed by the same seven actors using the same set. Although the plays loosely shared some common themes, the three stories were independent of each other and unconnected. This trilogy is considered Alan Ayckbourn's first major success of the 21st century. As well as sharing the same seven actors, the trilogy was also written to use the same set: a flat in the London Docklands, where Ayckbourn himself owns a flat. Beyond that, there was no intentional link between the plays, and the only reason the name Damsels in Distress was chosen was that the plays all happened to include a female character in some sort of trouble.
Two of the plays GamePlan and RolePlay actually bookend Rep’s Opening Play of the season FlatSpin and coincidentally, all three plays require a cast of 3 male and 4 female set in a docklands flat in London. As luck would have it, we happen to have a set build already that matched that description (thank you Andrew Kay and the master set builders) so we’ve decided to capitalise on the convenience of a readymade set and we offer you the opportunity to be a part of Rep STUDIO’s "Play Readings, on set" on the FlatSpin Set. We read through GamePlan on Sunday 14 March 2010 we’ll read/walk through Role Play from 10am on Saturday 20 March. Please let Megs know if you are able to join in this clever little occasion by emailing your RSVP to studio (at) canberrarep.org.au.
