Three Plays: Absurd Person Singular; Absent Friends; Bedroom Farce [Paperback]

Alan Ayckbourn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 1994

A scathing comedy of social striving in the suburbs, Absurd Person Singular follows the fortunes of three couples who turn up in each other's kitchens on three successive Christmases, to hilarious and devastating effect.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 5, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802131573
• ISBN-13: 978-0802131577
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absurd person singular is top, December 9, 1999

By 

Melanie, Marcus, Alexander (Koblenz, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plays: Absurd Person Singular; Absent Friends; Bedroom Farce (Paperback)

In our opinion " Absurd person singular " is worth four stars. The relationships of the three couples are presented in a very funny way. The main characters are exaggerated very much. That's why the comedy is funny as well as critical. There is Marion for example who behaves in avery theatrical way, and Jane who is obsessed with cleaning. The reader is disillusioned about marriages and friendships because he realizes that marriages and even friendships aren't always as positive and easy as they first appear to be. Eva's saying:" My existence ended the day he married me " shows this fact in a very clear way. Another aspect is that the reader doesn't really identify with those characters because only types are presented which makes us see the characters critically.

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 Plays, September 13, 2010

By 

hughie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plays: Absurd Person Singular; Absent Friends; Bedroom Farce (Paperback)

This book is simply three of Ayckbourn's better known plays - essentially the scripts for each of them. In Abusurd Person Singular, the play unfolds over three successive Christmases in the kitchens of three couples; a young couple with a philandering husband, an older middle class gent and his wife, and then the well meaning but to the others awful up and coming property developer. Absent Friends unfolds over afternoon tea where friends gather to console a recent widower over his wife's death by accidential drowning. Socially gormless, the widower exposes simmering tensions and disaffections, leaving them by the end unintentionally but hilariously much the worse for his visit. Bedroom Farce is one of Ayckbourn's best and most well known plays. The set is three bedrooms; a party in one, an invalid in another, and the parents of a guest at the party in the third. Mayhem unfolds as party guests arrive early and a bickering couple resort to blows. Meanwhile, the action hops between the other bedrooms as amongst it all the meaning of true love struggles to explain itself. The plays are short and easy to read, a trove of technique for ambitious writers or anyone interested in theatre. Well worth reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Triple Dipper, May 28, 2010

By 

M. S. Blomgren ""Stella"" (White Bear Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Plays: Absurd Person Singular; Absent Friends; Bedroom Farce (Paperback)

Interesting group of plays by Ayckbourne. For me the best one is first and the second is next. Reading the three together one learns a bit about Ayckbourne's continuing themes, selection of characters and playwrighting techniques. It is interesting to realize how very serious much of the writing is when on stage the plays perform as great farces and comedies. Quite a good learning experience.