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Go in-depth with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today when you go Downstage Center. Downstage Center is the American Theatre Wing's acclaimed weekly theatrical interview program that spotlights the creative talents on Broadway, Off-Broadway, across the country and around the world, with in-depth conversations that simply can't be found anywhere else. Now in its sixth year, Downstage Center, produced in association with CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, has been featured by the Associated Press and Slate.com as the place to go for theatrical talk. New editions will be available every other Wednesday from this website, where you can listen online, download the programs or subscribe to the podcast. |
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Sir Alan Ayckbourn |
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With:
Sir Alan Ayckbourn
From his home base in Scarborough, England, playwright and director Sir Alan Ayckbourn makes a return visit to Downstage Center during the run of his 74th play, Life of Riley. He discusses why he chooses to mention his parents' unhappy marriage in his program biography; why so many of his plays involve infidelity; his feeling about happy endings; the challenge and opportunity of creating characters who never appear on stage, but are often spoken about, as is the title character in Riley; whether as a director of his own plays he enjoys the benefit of knowing what every character is thinking; the advice he gives to other directors who are tackling his plays and seek him out; his feeling about star casting and how it influenced his early hit How The Other Half Loves; why he imposed a moratorium on his plays being done in the West End for several years and why it remains in place for his new plays; the experience of bringing work to New York to critical acclaim (Private Fears in Public Places, Intimate Exchanges and My Wonderful Day) and why he's content to have it seen for a limited run in a small venue; why he called off plans for Private Fears to be remounted with an American cast; whether he can still create "event theatre" along the lines of The Revenger's Comedies, The Norman Conquests and House and Garden; and whether he misses being the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, his primary occupation for the better part of four decades.
Original air date - January 5, 2011
Running Time - 1:07:02
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