A Small Family Business is a play by Alan Ayckbourn about the eponymous business and dealing with the Thatcherism of the time.[1] It premiered at the Olivier stage of the Royal National Theatre on 20 May 1987, where it won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for that year.[2][3] Its Broadway premiere occurred on 27 April 1992.[4]
| A Smal Family Business | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Written by | Alan Ayckbourn | ||
| Characters | Ken Desmond Harriet Jack Poppy Cliff Anita Samantha Tina Roy Yvonne Benedict The Rivetti Brothers | ||
| Date premiered | 21 May 1987 | ||
| Place premiered | England | ||
| Original language | English | ||
| Subject | Greed, corruption | ||
| Genre | Drama | ||
| Official site | |||
| Ayckbourn chronology | |||
| |||
Radio adaptation
editA radio adaptation directed by Martin Jarvis was broadcast at 8 p.m. on Sunday 12 April 2009 on BBC Radio 3 as part of the celebrations of its author's 70th birthday that day.[5] Its cast included:
- Jack McCraken – Alfred Molina
- Benedict – Adam Godley
- Poppy – Rosalind Ayres
- Anita – Joanne Whalley
- Cliff – Kenneth Danziger
- Ken – Roy Dotrice
- Yvonne – Millicent Martin
- Harriet – Jill Gascoine
- Desmond – Julian Sands
- Roy – Darren Richardson
- Tina – Moira Quirk
- Samantha – Fuchsia Sumner
- The five Rivetti brothers – Matthew Wolf
Reception
editIn 2000, The Telegraph's Charles Spencer praised A Small Family Business as one of the "finest British plays of recent years" along with Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993).[6]
References
edit- ^ Billington, Michael (9 April 2014). "A Small Family Business review – revival sells Ayckbourn short". The Guardian.
- ^ "A Small Family Business | Samuel French". samuelfrench.com.
- ^ "Evening Standard Theatre Awards 1980–2003". Evening Standard. London. 29 October 2003.
- ^ "A Small Family Business – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". ibdb.com.
- ^ "BBC Radio 3 – Drama on 3, A Small Family Business". BBC.
- ^ Spencer, Charles (17 May 2000). "A stripped-down comedy that's no laughing matter". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 27 February 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
External links
edit- Major productions of A Small Family Business
- Radio 3 adaptation
- A Small Family Business at the Internet Broadway Database
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