- Norma Doyle
Playreaders meet every Monday from 2-3 in the Central Activity Center, Room B. Visitors are always welcome. Come early so we can meet and greet you.
PLAY: On February 4th and 11th Ron White will present If I Were You by Alan Ayckbourne. Readers include Honora Clemens, Hal McCown, Joyce O’Connor, Ron White and Sandy White.
If I Were You is a 2006 play about an unhappily married couple, Mal and Jill who are given the chance to understand each other by discovering, quite literally, what they would do “if I were you”.
Mal and Jill’s life includes their children, Sam, a son, who wants to join a drama group and is at odds with his father and their daughter, Chrissie, who did well at school, found a man, got pregnant and got married to a prized son-in-law, Dean. The day does not go well. Mal has problems at work, customers and staff alike and is trying to fend off a woman he has been having an affair with. At home, Jill confides with Chrissie, about the affair and Chrissie reveals that her husband is physically abusive. Later Jill and Mal have a quarrel about her regretting her not having worked for fifteen years, After the unhappy day draws to a close everyone goes to sleep, but when the alarm goes off there is an amazing and somewhat terrifying change.
Have you ever wished to live someone else’s life? Jill and Mal get a chance to do exactly that as they have somehow swapped bodies during the night and now face the world, nervous, disbelieving and determined to tell no one. Only Ayckbourne could have developed this comedic and yet at times, dramatic change in a play. The audience is treated to some challenging, unexpected and hilarious turns and twists for this enchanted family.
PLAYWRIGHT: Sir Alan Ayckbourn (1939- ) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced more than seventy full-length plays. From 1972 – 2009, he was the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre
Multiple plays by Ayckbourn were major successes and have won numerous awards, including seven London Evening Standard Awards. They have been translated into over 35 languages and are performed on stage and television throughout the world. Ten of his plays have been staged on Broadway, attracting two Tony nominations, and one Tony award.