Times of My Life

by Alan Ayckbourn

Time of My Life charts the decline and fall of a successful family business founded and nurtured by Gerry and Laura Stratton. It is Laura's fifty-fourth birthday and Gerry has organized a small family dinner at their favourite restaurant. Domestically, all seems well. Glyn, their eldest son, has patched up his marriage with Stephanie; younger son Adam has a new girlfriend and is deeply in love. But, as we suspect, all this is surface stuff. For, as their evening proceeds, the play reveals skeletons from the past and a spectre of the future.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

92 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1993

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

[Anton Segers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie gevaar loopt om het menselijk ras al te rooskleurig te bekijken moet Ayckbourn lezen en/of zien. Het egoïstisch gedrag en de hypocrisie van deze diersoort worden draaglijk, zelfs amusant geserveerd, dankzij Ayckbourns wijze en scherpe humor.
Hier doorprikt hij de illusies rond de personages, door sluw te jongleren met tijdssprongen toont hij hun inconsequenties en oneerlijkheid.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical but quality Ayckbourn play that examines the horrors and cruelties of every English middle class life with scenes that wind backward and forward through time and reveal the devastation and control family members exert upon one another.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good play. I'm reading this because I'm about to play Laura. Mwahahahahahaha.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ayckbourn going through the motions: a few standard tricks (fractured time sequences), a few stock Ayckbourn characters, some fun dialogue and good opportunities for actors whatever their abilities. There are some very good quips and lines, and some scenes (usually with the waiter) where a bit of hamming for laughs is thoroughly justified, but no deep insight into the human condition.

Not all Ayckbourn plays date badly, but this one is fraying a bit. The northern family made good is a 70s throwback: the businessman, the fearsome matriarch and the two browbeaten sons; while the mistaken identity scene between Adam, Maureen and the waiter is straight out of a 70s sitcom.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this kind of bland.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

This script was bought for reference, I have never actually seen the play. Samuel French publish the "actoring" edition and the layout is clear and standard.

I enjoy looking at the details of where the play was first performed and seeing who acted in it. For this play, the play was performed in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough first and then transferred to London a few months later. Of the seven original cast, five transferred to the London staging.