A Chorus of Disapproval

By Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Philip de Glanville

20th – 23rd November 2013

This was Ayckbourn’s 50^thanniversary as a playwright and we chose to perform one of his most admired, though horrendously difficult, plays in order to celebrate his remarkable achievements.

It is difficult for two reasons; firstly because the action switches constantly from the rehearsal room, where ‘Pendon Amateur Light Opera Society’ are struggling with their version of The Beggar’s Opera, complete with singing and dancing (not skills which come naturally to FDC!), to various locations around the town (a pub, three different front rooms, a café and a garden) where our shy hero Guy is caught up in all the off-stage infidelities and intrigues commonly thought to be associated with amateur theatre; and secondly because, though hilarious at times, the play is essentially quite dark. In it Guy discovers that his good nature and willingness to try to please everyone are no guarantees of popularity, and that he is defenceless against the weight of general disapproval when the members of PALOS turn against him at the end of the play.