A Chorus of Disapproval

by Alan Ayckbourn

Being the cautionary tale of Guy, a man who couldn't say no to wine, women or song - and of his consequent rise and fall in the world of amateur operatics.
"...a serious comic masterpiece: brilliantly constructed, ruthlessly observant, hilarious and hard as nails." John Peter, Sunday Times.
"...a magnificent comedy: symmetrically shaped, psychologically acute and painfully, heartbreakingly funny." Michael Billington, The Guardian.
"...humour, pathos and unnerving insight into human idiosyncrasy." Francis King, Sunday Telegraph.

Genres: Plays, Drama, 20th Century

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 1984

About the author

Sir Alan Ayckbourn is a popular and 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 first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit Relatively Speaking opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967. Major successes include Absurd Person Singular (1975), The Norman Conquests trilogy (1973), Bedroom Farce (1975), Just Between Ourselves (1976), A Chorus of Disapproval (1984), Woman in Mind (1985), A Small Family Business (1987), Man Of The Moment (1988), House & Garden (1999) and Private Fears in Public Places (2004). His plays 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.

Reviews

[Bionic Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Chorus of Disapproval is a comic farce by Alan Ayckbourn. It focuses on a young widower, Guy Jones, who joins an amateur theatrical group as they work towards their production of "The Beggars Opera". Increasing in confidence, Guy works his amorous way through most of the females in the cast, and simultaneously up through the ranks, until he is playing the lead role.

The play premiered in Ayckbourn's Scarborough theatre in 1984, transferred to the National Theatre the next year, and then went on to the West End, which is where I saw it. Alan Ayckbourn directed his own play and Colin Blakely played the part of Dadfydd Ap Llewellyn. The dissolute young Guy was played by Jim Norton, and Pippa Guard also starred.

What raised the bar in this particular play, was that many of the songs from "The Beggar's Opera" were incorporated, but given a new slant and whole new implication, by being placed within their new context. In typical Ayckbourn fashion, this is a cautionary, black tale, which does not end well, and has moments of high absurdity.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical twee, middle-class Ayckbourn. It does exactly what you expect and nothing more. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if the play being performed by the Am Dram (Am Op?) group was something I was more familiar with. I probably missed some hilarity through lack of knowledge of The Beggar's Opera. Probably.

Anyway, easy to read, would probably be a decent enough play to put on - if you had a fairly tame audience to contend with.

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

My second encounter with Alan Ayckbourn and I still haven’t found him more than mildly amusing. I preferred this to the other Ayckbourn work I read (Sisterly Feelings), but both remind me of TV sitcom more than anything else – and, of course, some people might say there is nothing wrong with that. Unlike sitcoms, however, there is narrative development in A Chorus of Disapproval: Guy joins an amateur light operatic society who are putting on John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera; he starts unconfident and is given a small role, but by the end, through a series of fortunate (and unfortunate) circumstances, he ends with the leading role on opening night. He also begins relationships with a couple of the women in the production, but by the end things come tumbling down – the irony is that on his night of success there is personal failure. I have nothing against characters who start off as stock figures, but I expect them to be fleshed out a bit and I’m not convinced any of these characters are. I imagine in a good production they could be good fun, especially the director, Dafydd ap Llewellyn, who is a juicy comic creation, but everything is a bit static: they are a bunch of comic types and that, as far as I can see, is about it...which is why it feels like a sitcom. I remain baffled by the critical reverence shown towards Ayckbourn...unless his plays have levels of humour and wit and character observation in performance that I am missing in reading them.

[Beth Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my Discord groups did this play -- about an amateur production of The Beggar's Opera -- as a group reading. I found the ending more unsatisfying than many of the group, I think, but the process of getting there was amusing.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few laugh out loud moments. In all, I enjoyed it.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nearly every "let's put on a show" cliche is obeyed. I was underwhelmed.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight, but readable and often witty. I would love to see it live.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Ayckbourn play I've read after hearing several good things about him from other drama students. It is a great play with some quick fire lines, great characters and a circular narrative however if you haven't read A Beggars Opera you'll be a bit stuck as there are several references to it, mainly because the play is about a group of actors rehearsing a production of it. Although it may not be the best starting place for someone to be introduced to Ayckbourns work it is an interesting read and with a revival starring Rob Brydon finished only a few months ago, it is still regularly performed and cited as a key piece of theatre.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have seen the play three times now and watched the DVD. I found the first viewing absolutely brilliant, SJT Scarborough in 2004. The second was an amateur production and was good of its type. The third and most recent was not so good. Perhaps a fourth viewing is required, to be sure.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forced comedy by a writer whose other works have aged better.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for A level English. It was difficult to write about but I think it was interesting to read and I found some scenes funny