Man of the Moment makes a splash at the Royal
Theatre builds swimming pool on stage for latest Ayckbourn classic.
Man of the Moment makes a splash at the Royal on Monday in one of the most technically difficult plays the venue has ever had to stage.
Crews at the Northampton theatre have had to build a working swimming pool on stage to allow the cast to strip down to their cossies for the production.
The Ayckbourn At 70 season has provided plenty of challenges for Royal & Derngate's technical and workshop teams – a real car into the set for Just Between Ourselves and seating the entire audience up on the stage among the actors for Private Fears in Public Places – but the last play, Man of the Moment, written in 1988, has to be the hardest.
Taking a dive into the vacuous world of celebrity culture and reality TV, Man of the Moment tells the story of Vic Parks, the man who has it all, including a villa in Spain, a trophy wife and a swimming pool to die for.
After years of celebrity, Vic's about to come face to face with the man who made it all possible, and this time it will be captured on camera.
It's a biting satire on the state of the nation, this darkly comic story explores how we create heroes and villains, and what happens to the little guy caught in the middle.
The drama is being directed by the playwright himself, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, who has become a frequent visitor to The Royal this season.
He admits to having a fascination for water, including it in several of his plays, and joked: "I just wanted to be able to write the stage direction 'Enter swimming'."
Sir Alan traces his original idea for the play back to seeing posters for the film Buster, about the Great Train Robbery, which set him thinking about how the public have a tendency to glorify our villains, and forget about their victims.
After its initial run at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 1988, the London premiere of Man of the Moment in 1990 won Alan the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award.
*Audiences can further immerse themselves in Ayckbourn's work, when until August 15, the theatre presents readings of his most popular plays from 5pm to 7.30pm.
Actress Liza Goddard who is best known for TV roles in Doctor Who, Bergerac and The Brothers, can be seen in Season's Greetings, which will be read on Saturday 25 July.
This play is a black, though often farcical comedy, about a dysfunctional family Christmas, set over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in an average English suburban house.
Man of the Moment runs until August 15. For tickets and information call the box office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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