BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentPart TwoPart TwoENTERBTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentI. Author II. Synopsis of Act IIII. Archive for Man of the MomentIV. An Interview with Alan AyckbournBackground InformationBackground InformationBTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentAlan Ayckbourn, born in 1939, British playwright, actor, and theater director, best known for his farcical dramas about the British middle class. He went straight into the theatre as a stage manager after leaving school. He is now a full-time theatre director. Working both at the Royal National Theatre in London and at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough. He has written over 50 comedies, many of them works of startling technical ingenuity with surprising quantities of pain and sorrow in them. I. I.Author Author To be continued on the next page.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentHe is one of the worlds most commercially successful dramatists, and has demonstrated over a long and constantly evolving career that it is possible to both a popular and a serious artist. He has been called “wildly funny and deeply tragic”, “a left-wing writer using a right-wing form”, and “the most acute analyst of contemporary British society”, although he occasionally insists that his only intention is to entertain. I. I.Author Author To be continued on the next page.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentAyckbourns plays are often noted for their interesting use of theatrical sets, as in The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays that show, respectively, simultaneous events in the dining room, living room, and garden of the same house during one weekend. The plays House (1999) and Garden (1999) take place on a single day and were designed to be performed simultaneously, by the same cast, in adjacent theaters. As Ayckbourns writing has matured, the themes of his plays have become more serious and the farce has become darker. I. I.Author Author To be continued on the next page.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentOther plays include Absurd Person Singular, Intimate Exchanges (a series of plays with sixteen different endings, all with the same main characters and opening scene), Woman in Mind, and A Small Family Business. His life and views are entertainingly recorded in Conversations with Ayckbourn by Ian Watson.I. I.Author Author The end of Author.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentII.II.Synopsis of Act ISynopsis of Act IThe present text is Act II. The story goes like this in Act I:It was 17 years ago that Vic Parks and Douglas Beechey first met, when Vic attempted to rob the bank where Douglas worked. Douglas foiled the robbery and became a hero, feted by the media. Meanwhile Vic was sentenced to a 10 -year prison sentence.Seventeen years on and where are they both? The media attention soon faded for mild mannered Douglas and he drifted back intoTo be continued on the next page.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentII.II.Synopsis of Act 1Synopsis of Act 1obscurity, leaving the bank to work for a double glazing company. Vic meantime discovered an interest and talent for writing whilst in prison and proceeded to develop a successful publishing and then TV career upon finishing his sentence.Now living in a villa, complete with swimming pool, in Spain, Vic has agreed to appear in the TV show “Their Paths Crossed”. The host Jill Rillington intends to bring together, 17 years on, Vic with Douglas Beecheythe unassuming clerk who foiled the robbery.To be continued on the next page.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the MomentII.II.Synopsis of Act 1Synopsis of Act 1Jill hopes to exploit the irony that althoughDouglas had a brief 15 minutes of fame and married his true loveincidentally maimed during the raidthe man who has found true success and celebrity is the villain. Expecting jealousy, envy and bitterness from Douglas. Now they are to be reunited at Vics Mediterranean home. How will they react to seeing each other once again and what effect will their meeting have on Vics long suffering wife Trudy?The end of Synopsis of Act 1.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the Moment III. Archive for Man of the MomentMan of the Moment is one of Ayckbourns typically very dark comedies in which nothing is quite what it seems or as clear cut as appearances would first indicate. The play was presented in London in 1990, becoming a joint winner of the Evening Standard Best Comedy Award in the same year. In 1990 it was also nominated for “the Play of the Year”. The end of Archive for Man of the Moment.BTLEWLesson 5Man of the Moment1.IV. An Interview with Alan AyckbournTo be continued on the next page.Clare Coulson interviews Sir Alan Ayckbourn and gives a brief insight into the mind of Britains most famous contemporary playwright. Q: Where do you get your inspiration from? A: Various places, snatches; fragments; I wait forthem to accumulate. I never start a play withone idea, usually several, usually one is thetheme. The theme reall