Woman In Mind
Encyclopedia
Woman in Mind is the 32nd play by English playwright, Alan Ayckbourn
. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resulted in a transfer to London's West End
. The play received its London opening at the Vaudeville Theatre
in 1986 where it received predominantly excellent reviews.
Woman in Mind was Ayckbourn's first play to use first-person narrative
and a subjective
viewpoint and is considered to be one of his most affecting works and one of his best.
. Most of it was written while Ayckbourn was on holiday in the Virgin Islands
. Influences for the play include the film Dead On Arrival
in which the narrator
is revealed to be dead at the climax. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
by Oliver Sacks
is also said to be an influence. There were also similarities to Just Between Ourselves, which also followed a woman, Vera, breaking down with neglect. But unlike Just Between Ourselves, where the audience sees the breakdown from the point of view of those surrounding Vera, in this play, everything was shown from the point of the view of the increasingly deluded Susan.
Another theme was the Susan's relationship to her son who joined a cult that forbids communication with parents, in what play critic Michael Billington
considered to be an attack on organised religion. In his words, the play "not only about an emotionally neglected middle-aged woman’s descent into madness but also the failure of the orthodox Christian morality to cope with individual unhappiness."
Unlike most of Ayckbourn's earlier plays, which were often completed the day before rehearsals began, Woman in Mind was completed a week earlier than he expected. Ayckbourn himself was conscious that this play was radically different from his earlier plays by expecting the audience to engage with a character whose perceptions are unreliable. His agent was sceptical as to whether an audience would accept such an unconventional play, and as the publicity went out before Ayckbourn had begun writing, an unusual brochure note was issued:
Originally intending to have a male central character, Ayckbourn found that a woman's voice was emerging, and felt that the public would be more sympathetic to a woman, and therefore he changed the sex. Ayckbourn has also commented that he did not want the central character to be a man in case audiences took it to be autobiographical. Nevertheless, Paul Allen, Ayckbourn's biographer, believes that Woman in Mind is Ayckbourn's most personal play and that a major influence on it may have been a breakdown suffered by his mother in the 1950s. He also suggested that Susan's relationship to her son may have been influenced by Alan Ayckbourn's relationship with his son Steven, at the time in a community in California (albeit not a non-speaking cult). This view is not shared by everyone, but it is generally agreed that Woman in Mind is a very personal play to Ayckbourn.
There are four other real characters in the play:
Contrasting Susan's own family are three imaginary characters, existing only in Susan's mind (and therefore visible to the audience):
At first, the imaginary characters are distinguished from the real characters by their white summery outfits. However, as Susan's mind goes out of control, the real characters start entering Susan's imaginary world, until it is very difficult to tell what is real and what is pretend.
The play set over two acts. The first act can be considered as two scenes, the first scene one afternoon, and the second scene on lunchtime the following day. The second act commences almost immediately where the first act leaves off, and ends some time overnight, but as Susan's percenption of reality deteriorates, the passage of time becomes subjective.
The play was originally staged in the round
for its original production at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
, and adapted for the proscenium
for the West End production at the Vaudeville Theatre
. It was generally viewed that the play worked better as an end-stage production. However, Alan Ayckbourn later revealed that he felt it was harder to achieve the effect of switching between the two worlds. The problem, he argued, was that whilst the round only makes a scenic statement when one calls upon it to do so, the proscenium makes a scenic statement whether or not it is needed.
After Bill leaves to fetch a cup of tea, Susan's husband (Andy), lovingly tends to her, joined by daughter Lucy and brother Tony,fresh from the tennis courts. All show concern for her welfare and tease her about the rake. Lucy and Tony fetch the ice, and Andy goes to cancel the ambulance Bill has ordered.
When Bill returns, however, it is apparent something is not right. Bill sees a tiny garden, whilst Susan insists her garden is massive, complete with rose-beds, swimming pool, tennis courts and lake. Susan also denies having a sister-in-law or son and becomes more confused when Bill says that her husband has not yet come home. When her real husband (Gerald) and sister-in-law (Muriel) enter, Susan faints.
When Gerald reminds Susan that their son, Rick, is coming for lunch, it transpires that he joined a sect
two years ago that forbids members from talking to their parents. He writes, but only to Gerald. Susan, hurt by this, blames this (and Rick's fear of women) on the public school scholarship Gerald bullied him to take. Susan is momentarily distracted by glimpses of Tony and Lucy, before Bill returns to check on Susan, only to be drawn into Gerald's account of the book he's writing on the history of the Parish. Susan therefore takes the opportunity to talk to Lucy, who praises her for her status as a historical novelist, and then informs her (naturally Susan is the first to know) that she is getting married.
In the real world, Bill agrees to stay for lunch (Muriel's “omelette surprise”, where she mistakes the tea tin for herbs). Gerald makes excuses for the sect, until confessing that Rick is coming to sell the possessions in his room – something that horrifies Susan as this is all she has left of him. Bill offers to act as a go-between so that Gerald and Susan can communicate with their son.
When Rick arrives, even Gerald has trouble bringing himself into the house. But before Susan can enter, her imaginary family brings her a sumptuous outdoor banquet, and persuades her to dine with them instead. Rick then comes into the garden and, to Susan's surprise, asks her to come inside. As she goes to her son, she collapses again.
– her to do nursing, and him to do “odd jobs”. He will not even allow Susan to see her, because Rick is embarrassed of the way she acted around past girlfriends.
Rick leaves a stung Susan to explain this to Gerald, who says “it's not fair to lay all the blame at your door”. They get into a fierce argument, with Susan egged on by Tony and Lucy (by now sitting in on most of Susan's conversations). Lucy tries to console Susan by praising her status as a brilliant heart surgeon. This time, Susan snaps at Lucy to shut up. Lucy runs off in tears, and Susan tries to apologise only for it to be accepted by Gerald.
In the sunset of her imaginary world, Andy caresses Susan and forgives her for being angry with Lucy. Susan, now worried by the increasing influence that Lucy, Tony and Andy have on her real life, tries asks Andy to leave her alone. Andy says they will go when she asks, but stays when Susan does so, suggesting she didn't really mean it. The scene becomes unreal, with Andy anticipating everything Susan says, then the voices of Susan and her imaginary family coming out of both their mouths.
Back in reality, Susan find Bill beside her (who fled on mention of a dessert, but has now returned). Susan confides to Bill about her hallucinations, and when asked about Rick, tells him a semi-fantasy where he is getting married, and she has met her daughter-in-law to be. Having previously hinted over his own family life – two daughters married to wheeler-dealer stockbrokers and a wife probably cheating with another doctor – Bill reveal how he feels about her, and his about to kiss her when Susan points to Lucy. Bill tries to humour Susan by talking where Susan pointed, but Lucy has already moved away. Tony and Andy arrive, and suddenly, Bill become part of her fantasy – now a wheeler-dealer stockbroker poaching rabbits. His is thrown into the lake, leaving Andy and Susan to reminisce on their own wedding day. As he kisses her, Susan weakly protests with “Oh dear God! I'm making love to the devil!”
At an indeterminate time overnight, Gerald and Rick find Susan sprawled out on the middle of the lawn during a thunderstorm
. Gerald tries to bring Susan inside, but she mocks him with an offer of a quiet divorce. It appears that Susan has burnt Gerald's precious book of the Parish, something Susan has no memory of. Then Muriel comes out screaming, having read a message of “Knickers off Muriel”. She refuses all pleas to come inside, denouncing Gerald for narrow-minded meanness, Rick as a priggish brat, and Muriel for wanting a phantom pregnancy.
Tony appears and opens an umbrella and the storm ends in time for what initially appears to be Lucy's wedding, but Tony and Andy appear to be some sort of race stewards, and Lucy, although dressed as a bride, seems to be taking part in a “brides race”. Meanwhile, Bill becomes a clichéd bookie, Muriel is a heavily pregnant French maid, Gerald is an Archbishop and Susan's real son Rick (now an odd-job man), to her horror, seems to be the groom for her imaginary daughter Lucy. All kinds of snippets relating to her real life mesh together as a surrealistic nightmare. Ignoring Susan's protests, they all toast her, acclaiming Susan as precious to them all, demanding a speech.
The final shred of reality is when Muriel says “The ambulance is on its way”, and a blue light flashes. Susan's speech descends into she same gibberish Bill used at the beginning of the play, and, with a desperate request to "December bee", she collapses a final time.
, Scarborough, on 30 May 1985. The production was directed by Ayckbourn and the cast consisted of:
The production team consisted of:
at the Vaudeville Theatre
and received its première on 3 September 1986, closing on 4 July 1987. Again directed by Ayckbourn and with design by Roger Glossop, the cast originally consisted of:
The initial production team consisted of:
The production was later recast, with Alan Strachan taking over the directing from Alan Ayckbourn.
on 17 February 1988 at the Manhattan Theatre Club
. The production was directed by Lynne Meadow
and the cast included Stockard Channing
in the role of Susan.
in the lead role, whom Alan Ayckbourn had worked with on various occasions since 1992. The production was originally scheduled for the autumn 2006 season. However, on 21 February 2006, Alan Ayckbourn suffered a stroke and the production of Woman in Mind was eventually dropped. The play was eventually re-scheduled for the autumn 2008 season, as part of Ayckbourn's final season as artistic director.
After a successful month-long run, it was announced that the play would transfer to the West End, again at the Vaudeville Theatre
. It was the first play to be directed by Alan Ayckbourn in the West End since Damsels in Distress
, which led to Alan Ayckbourn's threat of a "boycott". Janie Dee reprised her role, as did most of the Scarborough cast, and the play was produced by Bill Kenwright
who had revived Absurd Person Singular
in 2007. It had a premiere on the 6 February 2009, with a full run from 29 January to 2 May.
praised the play for Ayckbourn venturing into new darker territory (citing touches of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
, Blithe Spirit
and The Exorcist
) whilst remaining a uniquely Ayckbourn play. Robin Thornber for The Guardian
, meanwhile, was particularly positive with about the way Ayckbourn combined her ideal fantasy world with her bleak real word. At the other end of the scale, however, Martin Cropper, writing in The Times
derided the play for all characters, real or pretend, as Ayckbourn stock characters.
However, the West End production had a much better reception, with critics agreeing the play had matured and - in spite of Ayckbourn views to the contrary - that play worked better in the Proscenium than the Round. Julia McKenzie was especially singled out for praise won the Evening Standard
award for best actress for her portrayal as Susan .Roger Glossop's set design also received praise for its J. M. Barrie
-esque sinister and seductive ambiance. In addition, Julia Mackenzie also received many anecdotal stories of how members of the audience had been affected by the play, including a woman who couldn't leave at the end whilst her son said "Mum, Mum," a father and daughter who spoke afterwards about things they had kept silent for years, and an actor came to her dressing room and cried. Alan Ayckbourn's own anecdote was of two women competitively boasting of how the play represented their lives.
The American première was also successful, with Stockard Channing winning a Drama Desk Award
for best actress.
The 2008-2009 revival was also generally received positively. In spite of this, the play closed one month earlier than originally intended and replaced with Duet for One by Tom Kempinski
.
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resulted in a transfer to London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. The play received its London opening at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
in 1986 where it received predominantly excellent reviews.
Woman in Mind was Ayckbourn's first play to use first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
and a subjective
Subjectivity
Subjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
viewpoint and is considered to be one of his most affecting works and one of his best.
History and influences
Woman in Mind was the last play written by Ayckbourn before his two-year sabbatical at the Royal National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. Most of it was written while Ayckbourn was on holiday in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. Influences for the play include the film Dead On Arrival
D.O.A. (1950 film)
D.O.A. , a film noir drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, is considered a classic of the genre. The frantically paced plot revolves around a doomed man's quest to find out who has poisoned him – and why – before he dies.Leo C...
in which the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
is revealed to be dead at the climax. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks describing the case histories of some of his patients. The title of the book comes from the case study of a man with visual agnosia...
by Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
is also said to be an influence. There were also similarities to Just Between Ourselves, which also followed a woman, Vera, breaking down with neglect. But unlike Just Between Ourselves, where the audience sees the breakdown from the point of view of those surrounding Vera, in this play, everything was shown from the point of the view of the increasingly deluded Susan.
Another theme was the Susan's relationship to her son who joined a cult that forbids communication with parents, in what play critic Michael Billington
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
considered to be an attack on organised religion. In his words, the play "not only about an emotionally neglected middle-aged woman’s descent into madness but also the failure of the orthodox Christian morality to cope with individual unhappiness."
Unlike most of Ayckbourn's earlier plays, which were often completed the day before rehearsals began, Woman in Mind was completed a week earlier than he expected. Ayckbourn himself was conscious that this play was radically different from his earlier plays by expecting the audience to engage with a character whose perceptions are unreliable. His agent was sceptical as to whether an audience would accept such an unconventional play, and as the publicity went out before Ayckbourn had begun writing, an unusual brochure note was issued:
At the time of going to press a high wall of secrecy surrounds this project. Some have the theory that the reason for this is to protect such highly original comic material from the risk of plagiarism. Others, more cynical, suggest that it could be due to the fact that the author hasn't started on it yet and is anxious not to commit himself.
Originally intending to have a male central character, Ayckbourn found that a woman's voice was emerging, and felt that the public would be more sympathetic to a woman, and therefore he changed the sex. Ayckbourn has also commented that he did not want the central character to be a man in case audiences took it to be autobiographical. Nevertheless, Paul Allen, Ayckbourn's biographer, believes that Woman in Mind is Ayckbourn's most personal play and that a major influence on it may have been a breakdown suffered by his mother in the 1950s. He also suggested that Susan's relationship to her son may have been influenced by Alan Ayckbourn's relationship with his son Steven, at the time in a community in California (albeit not a non-speaking cult). This view is not shared by everyone, but it is generally agreed that Woman in Mind is a very personal play to Ayckbourn.
Characters
The central character in Woman in Mind is, of course, Susan. She is a housewife who, in reality, is neglected by her husband, patronised by her sister-in-law, and estranged from her son. In her own imaginary world, by contrast, she is happy, successful, and loved by her perfect family. Susan remains on-stage throughout the play, and everything seen and heard on stage is what is seen and heard by Susan, both real and imagined.There are four other real characters in the play:
- Gerald, Susan's real husband, a vicar whose interest in his wife has long since faded in favour of his book and undivided attention to his sister;
- Muriel, live-in sister to Gerald, dead weight about the house, self-centred, and an unimaginably bad cook;
- Rick, Susan's real son, who joined a cult that forbids members to speak to their parents; and
- Bill Windsor, Susan's doctor who has a greater fondness for Susan than one would expect.
Contrasting Susan's own family are three imaginary characters, existing only in Susan's mind (and therefore visible to the audience):
- Andy, Susan's imaginary husband, handsome, devoted, master cook, and everything missing from Gerald;
- Tony, Susan's imaginary young brother, again devoted, mischievous, and presumably compensation for Gerald's devotion to Muriel; and
- Lucy, Susan's imaginary daughter, beautiful, close, and, unlike Rick, shares every secret with her.
At first, the imaginary characters are distinguished from the real characters by their white summery outfits. However, as Susan's mind goes out of control, the real characters start entering Susan's imaginary world, until it is very difficult to tell what is real and what is pretend.
Setting
The entire play takes place in what is, in reality, Susan and Gerald's tiny back garden. In Susan's imagination - and with it the audience's view - the same piece of grass becomes a small part of her imaginary vast estate (with trees, lakes and a tennis court all in easy reach), with a transition between the two worlds largely achieved through changes in sound and lighting.The play set over two acts. The first act can be considered as two scenes, the first scene one afternoon, and the second scene on lunchtime the following day. The second act commences almost immediately where the first act leaves off, and ends some time overnight, but as Susan's percenption of reality deteriorates, the passage of time becomes subjective.
The play was originally staged in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
for its original production at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
, and adapted for the proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
for the West End production at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
. It was generally viewed that the play worked better as an end-stage production. However, Alan Ayckbourn later revealed that he felt it was harder to achieve the effect of switching between the two worlds. The problem, he argued, was that whilst the round only makes a scenic statement when one calls upon it to do so, the proscenium makes a scenic statement whether or not it is needed.
Scene 1
Susan awakes to a man tending to her speaking apparent gibberish, actually misheard English (such as “Squeezy cow, squeezy” really meaning “Easy now, easy”). He is Dr. Windsor (or “octer bin sir”), and Susan suggests she's died and gone where no-one speaks English, and when Bill says “December bee” (“Remember me”), Susan retorts that there are no bees in December. When Bill's language starts to make sense, he explains she knocked herself out with a garden rake.After Bill leaves to fetch a cup of tea, Susan's husband (Andy), lovingly tends to her, joined by daughter Lucy and brother Tony,fresh from the tennis courts. All show concern for her welfare and tease her about the rake. Lucy and Tony fetch the ice, and Andy goes to cancel the ambulance Bill has ordered.
When Bill returns, however, it is apparent something is not right. Bill sees a tiny garden, whilst Susan insists her garden is massive, complete with rose-beds, swimming pool, tennis courts and lake. Susan also denies having a sister-in-law or son and becomes more confused when Bill says that her husband has not yet come home. When her real husband (Gerald) and sister-in-law (Muriel) enter, Susan faints.
Scene 2
The following day, Susan, dozing in the garden, is woken by Gerald. Now back in tune with the real world, she openly discusses the deadness of their marriage, something Gerald insensitively glosses over. Muriel serves “coffee”: ground coffee prepared as one would do instant. Indignantly Muriel points out she tended to her late mother, then late husband (or finished off, as Susan sees it) before digressing into her deluded conviction that her late husband's ghost will return with a message.When Gerald reminds Susan that their son, Rick, is coming for lunch, it transpires that he joined a sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
two years ago that forbids members from talking to their parents. He writes, but only to Gerald. Susan, hurt by this, blames this (and Rick's fear of women) on the public school scholarship Gerald bullied him to take. Susan is momentarily distracted by glimpses of Tony and Lucy, before Bill returns to check on Susan, only to be drawn into Gerald's account of the book he's writing on the history of the Parish. Susan therefore takes the opportunity to talk to Lucy, who praises her for her status as a historical novelist, and then informs her (naturally Susan is the first to know) that she is getting married.
In the real world, Bill agrees to stay for lunch (Muriel's “omelette surprise”, where she mistakes the tea tin for herbs). Gerald makes excuses for the sect, until confessing that Rick is coming to sell the possessions in his room – something that horrifies Susan as this is all she has left of him. Bill offers to act as a go-between so that Gerald and Susan can communicate with their son.
When Rick arrives, even Gerald has trouble bringing himself into the house. But before Susan can enter, her imaginary family brings her a sumptuous outdoor banquet, and persuades her to dine with them instead. Rick then comes into the garden and, to Susan's surprise, asks her to come inside. As she goes to her son, she collapses again.
Act 2
Susan wakes to find Rick still speaking to her, explaining that he has left the sect he and now has a girlfriend. Her joy, however, is short-lived when she learns they are already married and they are moving to ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
– her to do nursing, and him to do “odd jobs”. He will not even allow Susan to see her, because Rick is embarrassed of the way she acted around past girlfriends.
Rick leaves a stung Susan to explain this to Gerald, who says “it's not fair to lay all the blame at your door”. They get into a fierce argument, with Susan egged on by Tony and Lucy (by now sitting in on most of Susan's conversations). Lucy tries to console Susan by praising her status as a brilliant heart surgeon. This time, Susan snaps at Lucy to shut up. Lucy runs off in tears, and Susan tries to apologise only for it to be accepted by Gerald.
In the sunset of her imaginary world, Andy caresses Susan and forgives her for being angry with Lucy. Susan, now worried by the increasing influence that Lucy, Tony and Andy have on her real life, tries asks Andy to leave her alone. Andy says they will go when she asks, but stays when Susan does so, suggesting she didn't really mean it. The scene becomes unreal, with Andy anticipating everything Susan says, then the voices of Susan and her imaginary family coming out of both their mouths.
Back in reality, Susan find Bill beside her (who fled on mention of a dessert, but has now returned). Susan confides to Bill about her hallucinations, and when asked about Rick, tells him a semi-fantasy where he is getting married, and she has met her daughter-in-law to be. Having previously hinted over his own family life – two daughters married to wheeler-dealer stockbrokers and a wife probably cheating with another doctor – Bill reveal how he feels about her, and his about to kiss her when Susan points to Lucy. Bill tries to humour Susan by talking where Susan pointed, but Lucy has already moved away. Tony and Andy arrive, and suddenly, Bill become part of her fantasy – now a wheeler-dealer stockbroker poaching rabbits. His is thrown into the lake, leaving Andy and Susan to reminisce on their own wedding day. As he kisses her, Susan weakly protests with “Oh dear God! I'm making love to the devil!”
At an indeterminate time overnight, Gerald and Rick find Susan sprawled out on the middle of the lawn during a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
. Gerald tries to bring Susan inside, but she mocks him with an offer of a quiet divorce. It appears that Susan has burnt Gerald's precious book of the Parish, something Susan has no memory of. Then Muriel comes out screaming, having read a message of “Knickers off Muriel”. She refuses all pleas to come inside, denouncing Gerald for narrow-minded meanness, Rick as a priggish brat, and Muriel for wanting a phantom pregnancy.
Tony appears and opens an umbrella and the storm ends in time for what initially appears to be Lucy's wedding, but Tony and Andy appear to be some sort of race stewards, and Lucy, although dressed as a bride, seems to be taking part in a “brides race”. Meanwhile, Bill becomes a clichéd bookie, Muriel is a heavily pregnant French maid, Gerald is an Archbishop and Susan's real son Rick (now an odd-job man), to her horror, seems to be the groom for her imaginary daughter Lucy. All kinds of snippets relating to her real life mesh together as a surrealistic nightmare. Ignoring Susan's protests, they all toast her, acclaiming Susan as precious to them all, demanding a speech.
The final shred of reality is when Muriel says “The ambulance is on its way”, and a blue light flashes. Susan's speech descends into she same gibberish Bill used at the beginning of the play, and, with a desperate request to "December bee", she collapses a final time.
Premiere
Woman in Mind received its world premiere at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The RoundStephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
, Scarborough, on 30 May 1985. The production was directed by Ayckbourn and the cast consisted of:
- Ursula Jones as Susan
- Barry McCarthy as Bill
- Robin Herford as Andy
- Caroline Webster as Lucy
- John Hudson as Tony
- Russell Dixon as Gerald
- Heather Stoney as Muriel
- Tom Bowles as Rick
The production team consisted of:
- Director: Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
- Design: Adrian P Smith
- Lighting: Francis Lynch
- Musical Director: Paul Todd
London premiere
In 1986, Woman in Mind transferred to London's West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
and received its première on 3 September 1986, closing on 4 July 1987. Again directed by Ayckbourn and with design by Roger Glossop, the cast originally consisted of:
- Julia McKenzieJulia McKenzieJulia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple...
as Susan - Peter BlythePeter BlythePeter Blythe was a British character actor, best known as Samuel "Soapy Sam" Ballard on Rumpole of the Bailey.-Early life:...
as Bill - Benedick Blythe as Andy
- Christina Barryk as Lucy
- John Hudson as Tony
- Martin Jarvis as Gerald
- Josephine TewsonJosephine TewsonJosephine Tewson is an English actress. Tewson is perhaps best known for her roles as Elizabeth in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and as Miss Davenport in the British television series Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:Tewson was born in Hampstead, London. Her father was a...
as Muriel - Daniel FlynnDaniel Flynn (Actor)Daniel Flynn is an English actor born in 1961 in Evesham, Worcestershire but moved to Bromley, Kent as a baby. He is the son of actor Eric Flynn and the brother of actor Jerome Flynn...
as Rick
The initial production team consisted of:
- Director: Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
- Design: Roger Glossop
- Lighting: David HerseyDavid HerseyDavid Hersey is a lighting designer who has designed the lighting for over 250 plays, musicals, operas, and ballets. His work has been seen in most corners of the globe and his many awards include the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for Evita, Cats, and Les Misérables, the Drama Desk Award for...
- Musical Director: Paul Todd
The production was later recast, with Alan Strachan taking over the directing from Alan Ayckbourn.
American premiere
Woman in Mind received its American premiere in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on 17 February 1988 at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
. The production was directed by Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow is an American theatre producer and director and a college professor.A cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr, Meadow attended the Yale School of Drama...
and the cast included Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
in the role of Susan.
2008-2009 revival
In 2008, the play was revived at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, again directed by Alan Ayckbourn. It had been intended for several years to revive this play with Janie DeeJanie Dee
Janie Dee is an English actress and singer.She is married to the actor Rupert Wickham.-Theatre:Dee is presently part of the Globe Theatre 2011 season playing The Countess of Roussillion in Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" and in October she goes to Nottingham Playhouse to play Amanda in ...
in the lead role, whom Alan Ayckbourn had worked with on various occasions since 1992. The production was originally scheduled for the autumn 2006 season. However, on 21 February 2006, Alan Ayckbourn suffered a stroke and the production of Woman in Mind was eventually dropped. The play was eventually re-scheduled for the autumn 2008 season, as part of Ayckbourn's final season as artistic director.
After a successful month-long run, it was announced that the play would transfer to the West End, again at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
. It was the first play to be directed by Alan Ayckbourn in the West End since Damsels in Distress
Damsels in Distress (plays)
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 . The plays were written to be performed by the same seven actors using the same...
, which led to Alan Ayckbourn's threat of a "boycott". Janie Dee reprised her role, as did most of the Scarborough cast, and the play was produced by Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
who had revived Absurd Person Singular
Absurd Person Singular
Absurd Person Singular is a 1972 play by Alan Ayckbourn. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples...
in 2007. It had a premiere on the 6 February 2009, with a full run from 29 January to 2 May.
Critical review
Although the original Scarborough production ran to full capacity, the reviews in the national papers very mixed. Martin Hoyle for the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
praised the play for Ayckbourn venturing into new darker territory (citing touches of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book My World and Welcome to It...
, Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
and The Exorcist
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...
) whilst remaining a uniquely Ayckbourn play. Robin Thornber for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, meanwhile, was particularly positive with about the way Ayckbourn combined her ideal fantasy world with her bleak real word. At the other end of the scale, however, Martin Cropper, writing in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
derided the play for all characters, real or pretend, as Ayckbourn stock characters.
However, the West End production had a much better reception, with critics agreeing the play had matured and - in spite of Ayckbourn views to the contrary - that play worked better in the Proscenium than the Round. Julia McKenzie was especially singled out for praise won the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
award for best actress for her portrayal as Susan .Roger Glossop's set design also received praise for its J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
-esque sinister and seductive ambiance. In addition, Julia Mackenzie also received many anecdotal stories of how members of the audience had been affected by the play, including a woman who couldn't leave at the end whilst her son said "Mum, Mum," a father and daughter who spoke afterwards about things they had kept silent for years, and an actor came to her dressing room and cried. Alan Ayckbourn's own anecdote was of two women competitively boasting of how the play represented their lives.
The American première was also successful, with Stockard Channing winning a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for best actress.
The 2008-2009 revival was also generally received positively. In spite of this, the play closed one month earlier than originally intended and replaced with Duet for One by Tom Kempinski
Tom Kempinski
Tom Kempinski is an English playwright and actor. He is best known for his 1980 play Duet for One, which was a major success in London and New York and which has been much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenplay for the movie version of Duet for One...
.