A Chorus of Disapproval
Alan Ayckbourn
A diffident widower, Guy Jones, joins an amateur operatic society to escape loneliness, only to find himself embroiled in a web of local scandals, infidelities, and corrupt business deals. As he rises from a one-line role to the lead in 'The Beggar’s Opera', his passive nature makes him a pawn for the more predatory members of the group. The play brilliantly uses the rehearsal process as a metaphor for the masks people wear in social life. It is a heart-breakingly funny exploration of small-town hypocrisy and the vulnerability of a good man in a dishonest world.
Guy Jones: A lonely, polite widower whose inability to say no leads him into unintentional romantic and professional complications with the local community theater members. Dafydd Ap Llewellyn: The passionate, tyrannical director of the amateur society, whose obsession with the production blinds him to his wife’s unhappiness and the group's corruption. Hannah Ap Llewellyn: Dafydd's neglected, overworked wife, who finds in Guy a brief, sympathetic respite from her husband's constant demands and emotional distance.
First Performance: 1984, at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Major success; won the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Comedy.
Original Actors: Bob Peck, Imelda Staunton