Haunting Julia is a one-act play that’s being offered online at the price of about $15. Alan Ayckbourn, the playwright, takes on the trio of roles in this 1994 work about a musical prodigy who died of an overdose. In this Stephen Joseph Theatre’s radio-play version, you have the option of Closed Captions or not. (You can read The Wall Street Journal review here.). If you want buy a ticket, go to Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, England
Listenable online only through Jan. 31, 2021, £12
To purchase “tickets,” go to sjt.uk.com
Alan Ayckbourn voices all three characters in Haunting Julia. Julia’s father is obsessed with his daughter’s death, finding it inextricable. Julia’s former boyfriend finally reveals some key information about the incident. And the psychic who may or may not have a link to Julia’s ghost, does provide context to Julia’s last day.
I’m a fan of ghost stories so Haunting Julia delighted me. Your mileage may vary. GRADE: B+
I hate sounding like a dunce but am I missing something here? If it’s a radio play how can I see closed captions?
Steve, you hear the dialogue and YouTube provides the Closed Captions.
You can see plays filmed beautifully through the OLD VIC. Next one is this week, beginning tomorrow through Saturday. https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on. Michael Sheen is in it.
The one in December with Andrew Scott was terrific. Price is about $15.
Patti, sounds good! I’ll look into it!
Yeah, I wondered about that too, Steve,
We’ve seen many Alan Ayckbourn plays over the years, a few here and more in Britain. We even saw one in a tiny community theater in the Lake District. Let’s see:
7/72 How the Other Half Loves (London) – This was the first of his plays to have a Broadway production
7/79 Bedroom Farce (London) – Also played in New York in 1979.
7/80 Sisterly Feelings (London/National Theatre) – Never played NY.
8/82 Season’s Greetings (London) – no New York production.
8/86 A Chorus of Disapproval (London) – no NY production.
7/87 Confusions (Ladyholme Centre/Bowness) — originally 1974. Five interconnected one act plays. No NY production.
8/87 A Small Family Business (London/National) – played NY two years later. Satire on Thatcherism.
7/90 Absurd Person Singular (London) – originally 1972, NY 1974.
8/95 Communicating Doors (London) – no NY production. I remember Jackie really liked this one.
7/96 By Jeeves (London) – a musical by ANdrew Lloyd Webber, book & lyrics by Ayckbourn. Jeeves and Wooster. Very entertaining.
8/00 Garden (London/National) – no NY production. Big disappointment. Much like THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, it was two shows that take place at the same time, one in the House, one in the Garden, so when a character storms out of the house into the garden, he leaves the first play and enters the second, right? Only, unlike NORMAN, which was fairly evenly divided among the three shows, here House was the major play and Garden almost a coda. But House wasn’t playing the day we were there so we had to take the other. Perhaps if we’d seen the first one we could have gotten something out of this, but as it was, it was a total loss.
6/05 Private Fears in Public Places (off-Broadway). 59 E 59 is two small theaters on East 59th Street that does a lot of Ayckbourn and other British stuff.
9/05 Absurd Person Singular (Broadway – revival.
6/07 Intimate Exchanges: Pageant (59 E 59) – originally 1982 in England; NY premiere. Like Noel Coward’s TONIGHT AT 8:30, this was originally 8 one-act plays.
5/09 The Norman Conquests: Living Together
5/09 Norman Conquests: Table Manners
7/09 Norman Conquests: Round & Round the Garden (all Circle in the Square/Broadway) – originally 1973.
12/11 Relatively Speaking (Broadway) – first US production of his first hit, originally 1965.
Jeff, wow! I’ve only experienced two Alan Ayckbourn plays.
Which is two more than I.
We’d seen the filmed 1977 television version of THE NORMAN CONQUESTS with Tom Conti, RIchard Briers, Penelope Wilton, Penelope Keith and David Troughton, but had never seen the plays on stage. Circle in the Square (where we later saw FUN HOME) is a perfect place to see it, as the audience surrounds the stage on all sides.
Jeff, Diane and I miss live theater. We’re so close to the Shaw Festival. Toronto is just an hour or so away (depending on traffic on the International Bridges–which are closed to us right now). Even our local theater companies face extinction if the coronavirus doesn’t start to recede.
This looks good, George, and I’ve seen The Norman Conquests a couple times (LOVE it).
Thanks for the tip.
Beth, I’m trying to support theater online in hopes some of these companies can survive the coronavirus.