Alan Ayckbourn Encyclopaedia: G
Gambon, Michael: Award-winning actor who appeared in more West End productions of Alan Ayckbourn's plays than any other actor. Gambon frequently stated Alan Ayckbourn was one of the best directors he has worked with and the actor won three Olivier Awards for his performances in plays directed by Alan Ayckbourn.A Game Of Golf (Intimate Exchanges): One of the eight major permutations of Intimate Exchanges in which Celia and Toby and Rowena and Miles attempt to inject life into their relationships on a golf course. It has two possible permutations for the final scene comprising Easter Greetings and A Triumph Of Friendship.
GamePlan (Damsels In Distress): Alan Ayckbourn's 58th play premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 24 May 2001 and opened at the Duchess Theatre, London, on 7 September 2002. One of the Damsels In Distress trilogy, it sees a teenage girl hoping to alleviate her mother's financial problems by misguidedly setting herself up as an internet prostitute. When her first client dies though, Sorrell finds herself in more trouble than she ever imagined.
GamePlan (abandoned): Alan Ayckbourn began writing his two planned plays for the summer of 2001, GamePlan and FlatSpin, during Christmas 2000. Unusually, the ideas for both unconnected plays were ditched and a new idea used instead. There is no record of what the original GamePlan was.
The Game's The Thing: One of several unused titles considered for Time And Time Again.
Garden: Alan Ayckbourn's 55th play premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 17 June 1999 and opened at the National Theatre, London, on 23 September 2000. One half of the duology House & Garden (which are intended to be performed simultaneously in two theatres / auditoriums sharing the same cast), it follows events in the garden of the Platt household over the weekend of a village fête.
A Garden Fête (Intimate Exchanges): One of the eight major permutations of Intimate Exchanges in which Sylvie, stuck in stocks at a fête, finds herself choosing between a future with or without Lionel. It has two possible permutations for the final scene comprising A Christening and Return Of The Prodigal.
The Garden Pact: One of several unused titles considered for Time And Time Again.
Gaslight: Patrick Hamilton's Victorian-set thriller was the first play to be professionally directed by Alan Ayckbourn. The production premiered at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, on 29 June 1961.
Geraghty, Kath: Lighting designer and frequent collaborator with Alan Ayckbourn. She was responsible for the lighting designs for the world premieres of plays such as Comic Potential, Virtual Reality, Callisto#7, Orvin - Champion Of Champions, My Sister Sadie and Life And Beth and has also worked with the playwright on revivals of his plays.
The Ghost Of 'Enry Albert: This is a song which formed part of the revue What The Devil! presented on tour and at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1975. The song is sung by the widow of 'Enry Albert Murgatroyd, who died carrying his rather large bride over the threshold. Now, whenever she remarries, he appears in the bedroom on the wedding night.
Ghost Stories: See The Fearsome Threesome.
Girl Meets Boy: A musical revue by Alan Ayckbourn and Paul Todd premiered in the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, on 25 May 1985. The revue is part of a duology with Boy Meets Girl and is set in a restaurant offering a wry look at relationships through song.
The Girl Next Door: Alan Ayckbourn's 85th play premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 8 June 2021. Written during - and as a response to - the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020, the play is a 'lockdown love story' which sees an actor during the 2020 lockdown discover the house next door and its occupants are actually existing in 1942.
The Girl Next Door (stream): The Girl Next Door was the first Ayckbourn world premiere production, directed by the playwright and performed in-the-round, to be filmed. It was streamed by the Stephen Joseph Theatre on its website during June, July and September 2021.
The Girl Who Lost Her Voice: A play for young people presented in 10 parts at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, from 23 July 2005. It follows the adventures of Tia Maria Perkins as she tries to recover her lost voice.
Gizmo: A play written for the National Connections '99 festival for performance by young people. Set in the near future, it concerns a device that enables one person to control another's actions and what happens when the device falls into the wrong hands.
Glossop, Roger: Regular designer for both the world and London premieres of Alan Ayckbourn's plays since the London production of Woman In Mind in 1982 to the present day.
Gosforth's Fête (Confusions): One of the five one-act plays which comprise Confusions - and possibly the most famous. A short play set during the opening of a chaotic village fête where nothing goes to plan.
Grass Widow: An unused title considered for Snake In The Grass.
Greenwich Theatre: London theatre which staged the London premieres of The Norman Conquests, Season's Greetings and Making Tracks. Notably The Norman Conquests was staged there to demonstrate a trilogy could be a financial success and viable in the West End. The success and acclaim of the trilogy led to an immediate transfer to the West End.
Grey Plays: A number of acknowledged plays by Alan Ayckbourn which have been produced but never published and are no longer available to produce. They largely consist of one act plays and revues which have been commissioned for special events or for other companies when Alan's writing career was just starting.
Grinning At The Edge: Alan Ayckbourn's official biography, written by Paul Allen and first published in hardcover by Methuen in 2001 with a softcover following in 2002. It was also released as an ebook in 2014, although there is no difference in content between the various publications.
A Guided Tour Through Ayckbourn Country: A collection of programme notes, essays and interviews with Alan Ayckbourn by Albert-Reiner Glaap, first published by Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier in 1999. An expanded second edition was released in 2004.
Original research for the The Alan Ayckbourn Encyclopaedia section is by Simon Murgatroyd and copyright of the author.