A Brief History Of Women: Facts

Key facts relating to Alan Ayckbourn's A Brief History Of Women

• A Brief History Of Women is Alan Ayckbourn's 81st play.
• The world premiere was held on 5 September, 2017, at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
• The New York premiere will be held on 1 May 2018 at the 59e59 Theaters, New York, as part of the Brits Off Broadway festival.
• The playwright originally considered calling the play On The House before choosing A Brief History of Women.
• It was not the play originally commissioned by the SJT. This was a piece called A Case Of Missing Wives, which Alan wrote but then wrote another play too. The SJT was offered both plays and chose A Brief History Of Women.
• Early notes for the play differed significantly from the final play including different character names, an affair with a head-girl rather than a teacher in the second scene and no appearance of the grand-children in the final scene of the play.
• The play is set in a single location, a manor house which later becomes a girls' school, arts centre and hotel.
• The play spans 60 years of time - the longest time-span of any Ayckbourn play; the lead character, Anthony Spates, is played by the same actor who ages from 18 to 78 during the course of the play.
• A Brief History of Women premiered in repertory with Alan Ayckbourn's farce Taking Steps; he thought it rather apt with the latter being a farce with imagined floors and the former a play with imagined doors.
• A Brief History Of Women is one of a number of Alan Ayckbourn plays to have been directed in New York by the playwright himself. The other plays are Arrivals & Departures, Bedroom Farce (co-directed with Peter Hall), By Jeeves, Confusions, Hero's Welcome, Intimate Exchanges, My Wonderful Day, Neighbourhood Watch, Private Fears In Public Places and Time Of My Life.

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