Confusions

by Alan Ayckbourn

Ayckbourn's series of five interlocked plays typify his black comedies of human behavior in recognizable and absurd domestic situations. First produced in 1976, the plays are alternately naturalistic, stylized and farcical, but underlying each is the problem of loneliness and characters who suffer the result of being ignored. "The Mother Figure" shows a mother unable to escape from baby talk with adults; in "The Drinking Companion" an aging absentee husband clumsily attempts seduction without success; in "Between Mouthfuls," an embarrassed waiter witnesses domestic break-ups on two separate tables. A garden party gets out of hand when a secret affair is announced over the loud speaker in "Gosforth's Fete" while "A Talk in the Park" is a revue-style curtain call piece for the five actors.Alan Ayckbourn's witty dialogue and penchant for farce are perfectly featured among his best writing and most colorful characters. The Student Edition features a comprehensive Introduction and additional information to provide context for understanding this play.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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

[Hossein Sharifi]

خوانیدنش برای یک بار خوب بود..
نمره واقعی سه و نیم..

نمایشنامه جشن نیکوکاری یکی از 5 نمایشنامه ی کتاب اغتشاشات
confusions
است که خود این کتاب با اینکه ترجمه شده ولی هنوز در ایران به چاپ نرسیده است. عنوان اصلی این اثر در انگلیسی
Gosforth's Fete
که به صلاح دید مترجم به جشن نیکوکاری تغییر کرده است.
درون مایه کتاب و نمایشنامه ها طنز است. در این نمایشنامه به بخشی از اعتقادات سیاسی و مذهبی از جمله حزب محافظه کار انگلستان و همچنین روابط نادرست انسانی به طور طنز مورد بررسی قرار میگیرد.
شگرد نمایشنامه نویسی آلن ایکبرن روایت حوادث بیرونی در خلال ماجراهای روی صحنه است. در نوشتن بارها از سمبولیسم استفاده میکند. به عنوان مثال: بچه گرگ ها.. که نمادی از هرج و مرج و انقلابیونی است که در مقابل حزب محافظه کار به قیام بلند خواهند شد.. هرچند که به طرز طنز گونه و کنایه آمیزی هنگامی که داربست سقوط میکند اکثر آنها له میشوند.
پیچیدگی روابط بین شخصیت ها و همچینین دورویی و نادرستی که در تمام آنها دیده میشود... چه در کشیش و در خانوم شهردار در استوارت و میلی و گاسفورت، همیشه مضحکه آفرین است و هرچه بیشتر و عمیق تر به روابط بین آنها نگاه کنید این پیچیدگی بیشتر میشود.
وقتی عمیق تر نگاه میکنید عنوان اصلی کتاب به شکلی برجسته به ذهن آدم خطور میکند:
اغتشاش، ابهام ، درهم برهمی ...
نمره واقعی سه و نیم

[Mohammad hashemi]

نمایشنامه شامل 5 پرده میشود عموما روابط نا درست انسانی درآن مورد نکوهش قرار گرفته البته از دید خودم. زیر مجموعه تیاتر ابزرد. متاسفانه کتاب ترجمه شده و کسی حاضر به چاپ آن نشده. امیدوارم ناشری پیدا بشه تا این کار هم به دست خاننده ایرانی و فارسی زبان برسه.

[Juliet the Book Slayer]

I read it because I'm doing the play. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Kira Griffin]

not sure what happened tbh

[Milena]

Confusions consists of three short plays:
The first about a mother who starts treating her neighbours like her offspring to the point of them starting to act as children.
The second about a waiter serving two couples while their relationships deteriorate beyond repair.
And my personal favourite, the third: five people around four park benches, annoying each other in a Chairs of Jerusalem-type of standoff.

Now for my review: I would have probably given it 3 stars, for “liked it" (but wasn’t particularly impacted and will not be thinking about it too much after finishing). BUT.

I happened to acquire my copy blindly, by just randomly picking it up in a book corner. This particular copy happened to belong to what I assume was a person playing one of the characters on stage. So I read it while seeing all kinds of scribbled directions and acting notes in the margins, and turns out a play really comes to life when you are also seeing “hold up three fingers” and “almost screaming” next to the lines.

So we are upgrading to 4 stars for "really liked it", exclusively because of you, Elise, whom I have never met and have no idea who you are, but you give excellent acting instructions that make a play feel alive and write your first name in books.

[Mary]

Five interesting snippets - a mother who treats her neighbours in the same manner as her children; a man trying to pick up two girls in a bar; two couples in a restaurant (the husband of one and wife of another are having an affair); a disastrous village fete and five strangers meet on benches in a park.

[William Harris]

The first two scenes were the best. The third probably works better on stage; that being said, even on paper the experiment Ayckbourn was going for (and he’s a most often successful comic innovator) didn’t seem to quite gel. The fourth was on surer farcical ground, and quite funny. The last one, meh. Not my favorite Ayckbourn, but he remains the funniest playwright of the last half century.

[Lucy]

These plays are so choc full of painfully funny and equally enjoyable cringeworthy moments - was it really like this in the 70s? Well, not as condensed and fast-paced, maybe - but yes, it was, and people really were like this. I relished almost every line of these plays.

[Pers]

Intriguing.

[Pietro Vignoni]

Le risate che mi sono fatto!! fantastico e di velocissima lettura ..

[Bobby Sullivan]

Some definitely laugh out loud moments in this one.

[Berenice]

The interlinked plays is a smart move from the author. I mostly enjoyed the last play when the five characters were running away from each random person they'd come across who happened to be a lonely soul in search of an ears to listen and a shoulder to cry however they weren't aware of being this random person who was telling his/her life to other people.
it was a chain.

[Jonathan]

Funny at times, but overall not memorable

[Patrick Neylan]

A reasonably funny set of Ayckbourn pieces. A bit dated now.