The Complete Plays: 1974 Overview
This page contains details about 1974 at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough; the first year the company approached an almost year round schedule. For details about individual plays, click on the play titles below.All information on this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd M.A. from programmes, brochures and newspaper articles.
Summer 1974
All plays were performed in-the-round in the Concert Room at Scarborough Library. The season ran from 17 June to 14 September 1974. The plays were performed in rep, generally with a change of programme on Thursdays.Advertised / Actual Programme
○ Absent Friends
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ Absent Friends
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ Absent Friends
○ Away From It All
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ The Northern Drift
○ Away From It All
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ Absent Friends
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ Absent Friends
○ Away From It All
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ The Northern Drift
○ Away From It All
17 - 22 Jun
24 - 26 Jun
27 Jun - 3 Jul
4 - 10 Jul
11 - 13 Jul
15 - 17 Jul
18 - 23 Jul
24 Jul
25 - 31 Jul
24 - 26 Jun
27 Jun - 3 Jul
4 - 10 Jul
11 - 13 Jul
15 - 17 Jul
18 - 23 Jul
24 Jul
25 - 31 Jul
○ Absent Friends
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ The Breadwinner
○ Away From It All
○ The Breadwinner
○ Absent Friends
○ Away From It All
○ The Breadwinner
○ Absent Friends
○ Black Comedy / Albert
○ The Breadwinner
○ Away From It All
○ The Breadwinner
○ Absent Friends
○ Away From It All
○ The Breadwinner
○ Absent Friends
1 - 7 Aug
8 - 10 Aug
12 - 14 Aug
15 - 21 Aug
22 - 28 Aug
29 - 31 Aug
2 - 4 Sept
5 - 11 Sept
12 - 14 Sept
8 - 10 Aug
12 - 14 Aug
15 - 21 Aug
22 - 28 Aug
29 - 31 Aug
2 - 4 Sept
5 - 11 Sept
12 - 14 Sept
Creatives
Alan Ayckbourn (Artistic Director / Writer)Peter King (Writer)
Helga Wood (Design)
Christine Welch (Costumes)
Actors
Janet DaleChristopher Godwin
Ronald Herdman
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Stanley Page
Heather Stoney
Other Staff
Ken Boden (General Manager)Kay Jamieson (Publicity Manager)
John Boden (Publicity Design)
David Millard (Company Stage Manager)
Trevor John-Smith (Deputy Stage Manager)
Helga Wood (ASM)
Kevin Wood (ASM)
Veronica Pemberton-Billing (Catering Manager)
Margaret Boden (Box Office)
Connie Garlick (Box Office)
Winter 1974 / 75
The winter season actually contained a local tour to Whitby and Filey due to prior bookings at Scarborough Library. Between 12 November - 21 December, Tuesday performances took place at Filey Sun Lounge, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Whitby Pavilion and Fridays and Saturdays at The Library Theatre, Scarborough.All plays were performed three-sided in the Large Lecture Room at Scarborough Library. The season ran from 23 September 1974 to 11 January 1975. The plays were performed in rep, generally with a change of programme on Thursdays. During this season, the venue was known as The Library Theatre rather than Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.
Advertised / Actual Programme (Scarborough only)
23 - 28 Sept
30 Sept - 9 Oct
15 - 16 Nov
22 - 23 Nov
29 - 30 Nov
30 Sept - 9 Oct
15 - 16 Nov
22 - 23 Nov
29 - 30 Nov
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead
○ On Approval
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead
○ The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't
○ Frost At Midnight
○ On Approval
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead
○ The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't
○ Frost At Midnight
6 - 7 Dec
13 - 14 Dec
20 - 21 Dec
23 Dec - 11 Jan
27 Dec - 11 Jan
13 - 14 Dec
20 - 21 Dec
23 Dec - 11 Jan
27 Dec - 11 Jan
Creatives
Alan Ayckbourn (Artistic Director / Writer)Janet Dale (Director / Writer)
Stanley Page (Director)
Helga Wood (Design)
Christine Welch (Costumes)
Actors
Janet DaleStuart Doughty
Bob Eaton
Carol Forgione
Christopher Godwin
Ronald Herdman
Ray Jewers
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Stanley Page
Paul Webster
Other Staff
Ken Boden (General Manager)David Millard (Company Stage Manager)
Kevin Wood (Deputy Stage Manager)
Anne Orwin (ASM)
Richard Roscoe (ASM)
John Whitehead (Technician)
Veronica Pemberton-Billing (Catering Manager)
Margaret Boden (Box Office)
1974 Production Notes
○ Although frequently abbreviated to just The Library Theatre, the official title of the venue between 1955 and 1976 was Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre. However, for the winter 1974/75 and 1975/76 seasons, the company used the name The Library Theatre on publicity material. This reflected that as the company was three-sided in the Large Lecture Room rather than in-the-round in the Concert Room.
○ On 24 July 1965, BBC Radio 3's The Northern Drift was recorded at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre - believed to have been broadcast on 1 August 1974. It featured prose, poems and sings from the north of England performed by Henry Livings, Alex Glasgow, Valerie Georoeson, Lorraine Peter and Graham Roberts, directed by Alfred Bradley.
○ Absent Friends is a play staged in real time; one moment of real time equates to one moment of time of stage. The play's action takes place over an hour and a half in a single location.
○ Absent Friends was initially scheduled to close on 14 September 1974, but its popularity led to it being extended into the autumn season from 23 to 28 September.
○ Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre's production of The Breadwinner was recorded for the BBC Radio Repertory In Britain (Afternoon Theatre) series. The production was produced by Alfred Bradley, directed by Alan Ayckbourn and adapted for the radio by Kay Jamieson. The production was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 December 1974.
○ Confusions marked the reintroduction of a winter season at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, for the first time since 1961. It was also the first winter season to be programmed by Alan Ayckbourn. The play actually opened shortly after the end of the summer season before embarking on a short regional tour alongside On Approval and But Fred Freud Is Dead to Filey Sun Lounge, Whitby's Spa Theatre and the Library Theatre, Scarborough.
○ During the 1974 and 1975 winter seasons at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, the Library Committee did not make the venue's Concert Room available; this room being where The Library Theatre had been based since 1955. In its place, a smaller room on the same floor - the Large Lecture Room - was offered but which could not incorporate theatre-in-the-round with productions performed three-sided (thrust).
○ But Fred, Freud is Dead was advertised and promoted with the incorrect title as all promotional and archive materials for the Scarborough production omit the comma in the title. For this reason, the website carries the title used in Scarborough to reflect the actual production, But Fred Freud Is Dead.
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead was also presented as part of the winter tour, however the final two performances at Whitby Spa had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales.
○ During rehearsals for But Fred Freud Is Dead, Alan Ayckbourn injured his back whilst directing and was confined to bed for several days. In a newspaper report, Alan Ayckbourn said: "As part of the play there was a cricket scene and I had just executed a late cut with a small bat in the rehearsal hall when I pulled my back. I know it sounds comic and everybody laughs, but it is pretty painful unless I am either lying down or standing up."
○ The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't was the first children's Christmas play to be presented at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, since Alan Ayckbourn's Dad's Tale in 1960. It ran in tandem during the day with evening performances of Frost At Midnight.
○ On 24 July 1965, BBC Radio 3's The Northern Drift was recorded at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre - believed to have been broadcast on 1 August 1974. It featured prose, poems and sings from the north of England performed by Henry Livings, Alex Glasgow, Valerie Georoeson, Lorraine Peter and Graham Roberts, directed by Alfred Bradley.
○ Absent Friends is a play staged in real time; one moment of real time equates to one moment of time of stage. The play's action takes place over an hour and a half in a single location.
○ Absent Friends was initially scheduled to close on 14 September 1974, but its popularity led to it being extended into the autumn season from 23 to 28 September.
○ Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre's production of The Breadwinner was recorded for the BBC Radio Repertory In Britain (Afternoon Theatre) series. The production was produced by Alfred Bradley, directed by Alan Ayckbourn and adapted for the radio by Kay Jamieson. The production was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 December 1974.
○ Confusions marked the reintroduction of a winter season at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, for the first time since 1961. It was also the first winter season to be programmed by Alan Ayckbourn. The play actually opened shortly after the end of the summer season before embarking on a short regional tour alongside On Approval and But Fred Freud Is Dead to Filey Sun Lounge, Whitby's Spa Theatre and the Library Theatre, Scarborough.
○ During the 1974 and 1975 winter seasons at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, the Library Committee did not make the venue's Concert Room available; this room being where The Library Theatre had been based since 1955. In its place, a smaller room on the same floor - the Large Lecture Room - was offered but which could not incorporate theatre-in-the-round with productions performed three-sided (thrust).
○ But Fred, Freud is Dead was advertised and promoted with the incorrect title as all promotional and archive materials for the Scarborough production omit the comma in the title. For this reason, the website carries the title used in Scarborough to reflect the actual production, But Fred Freud Is Dead.
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead was also presented as part of the winter tour, however the final two performances at Whitby Spa had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales.
○ During rehearsals for But Fred Freud Is Dead, Alan Ayckbourn injured his back whilst directing and was confined to bed for several days. In a newspaper report, Alan Ayckbourn said: "As part of the play there was a cricket scene and I had just executed a late cut with a small bat in the rehearsal hall when I pulled my back. I know it sounds comic and everybody laughs, but it is pretty painful unless I am either lying down or standing up."
○ The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't was the first children's Christmas play to be presented at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, since Alan Ayckbourn's Dad's Tale in 1960. It ran in tandem during the day with evening performances of Frost At Midnight.
All information for this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd and should not be reproduced without permission. Any approved reproduction of information from this page should always credit 'A Round Town (www.theatre-in-the-round.co.uk).