Introduction & Overview of A Chorus of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn

A Chorus of Disapproval Introduction

A Chorus of Disapproval, Sir Alan Ayckbourn' s twentieth play—and one of his most successful— premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theater in the Round in Scarborough, England, in May, 1984. Following the sell-out season in Scarborough, the play opened in a large-scale production at the National Theater in London in August, 1985. The success of the play earned Ayckbourn three major British theater awards including the London Evening Standard Award, the Olivier Award, and the Drama Award.

Ayckbo urn's first great success, Relatively Speaking, was a farce modeled on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest; A Chorus of Disapproval is not modeled on, but rather is based around, another play: John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which in the play is to be performed by a local dramatic society. The play describes the ups and downs of provincial life: as the rehearsals for The Beggar's Opera advance, real...
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