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A Chorus of Disapproval

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Harold Pinter Theatre · London

A shy, recently widowed newcomer joins a small-town amateur operatic society and is promoted up the cast list as everyone else falls out.

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Comedy

The story

Alan Ayckbourn's 1984 comedy follows Guy Jones as the society rehearses The Beggar's Opera under its passionate, egotistical Welsh director, Dafydd ap Llewellyn. Because Guy works for a big company, members assume he knows about a rumoured local land deal and try to court or bribe him, while he becomes entangled with Dafydd's neglected wife Hannah and with Fay, who has a taste for partner-swapping.

In the room

A comedy with music in which songs from The Beggar's Opera, sung in rehearsal, wryly mirror what is happening offstage, mixing satire of amateur dramatics and small-town greed with a bittersweet streak of loneliness.

Good fit if you like

backstage comedies, amateur dramatics and sharp satire of English small-town life.

Details

From 27 Sept 2012

Running time not recorded.

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Cast & crew

No cast or crew recorded yet.

Details are edited by First Night.