Alan Ayckbourn has 6 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 22 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is Man of the Moment.
Man of the Moment
Summary
The price of accidental fame is hashed out in this comedy about a famous bank robber and the clerk who foiled his biggest heist. Ayckbourn’s 1988 play anticipates the popularity - and absurdity - of reality TV. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Rosalind Ayres as Jill Rillington; Jane Carr as Trudy Parks; Kenneth Danziger as Douglas Beechey; Martin Jarvis as Vic Parks; Ian Oglivy as Kenny Collins; and Yeardley Smith as Sharon Giffin. Directed by Robert Robinson. Recorded before a live audience in Santa Monica, California in February 1994.
©2012 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2012 L.A. Theatre Works
Table Manners
Summary
England’s famous seducer of other men’s wives lays siege to his sister-in-law in the first “battle” of Ayckbourn’s celebrated trilogy The Norman Conquests. In Table Manners, the action occurs in the dining room of Mother’s house, where a conventional middle-class family is attempting to have a pleasant country weekend. But they are no match for Norman, the bane of the family, who horrifies everyone by doing exactly as he likes. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Rosalind Ayres as Sarah, Kenneth Danziger as Reg, Martin Jarvis as Norman, Jane Leeves as Annie, Christopher Neame as Tom, and Carolyn Seymour as Ruth.
©1997 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works
The Alan Ayckbourn Collection
Summary
Six plays from the Olivier, Tony, and Moliere Award-winning playwright Alan Ayckbourn: The legendary The Norman Conquests trilogy; as well as a brand new recording of his play Henceforward… starring Mad Men's Jarred Harris alongside Anne Heche; Just Between Ourselves starring Alfred Molina; and a remastering of L.A. Theatre Works’ recording of Man of the Moment. Ayckbourn’s celebrated triology The Norman Conquests includes three hilarious and poignant plays depicting the same six characters in one house over one weekend, namely Norman and his romantic follies. "Table Manners" (The Norman Conquests, part 1): England’s famous seducer of other men’s wives lays siege to his sister-in-law in the first “battle”. A middle-class family trying to have a pleasant country weekend is no match for Norman, who horrifies everyone by doing exactly as he likes. "Living Together" (The Norman Conquests, part 2): In the second “battle” Norman gets drunk on homemade wine - and all hell breaks loose. He unleashes his merry brand of manipulative charm on the hapless guests, and even his most formidable opponents go down in defeat on the drawing-room rug. "Round and Round the Garden" (The Norman Conquests, part 3): In the third "battle", the setting is Mother’s overgrown English garden, where something more troublesome than brambles lurks among the roses. Havoc ensues as this satirical masterpiece makes its way to a hilarious conclusion. Cast: Rosalind Ayres as Sarah, Kenneth Danziger as Reg, Martin Jarvis as Norman, Jane Leeves as Annie, Christopher Neame as Tom, and Carolyn Seymour as Ruth. Directed by Dennis Erdman. Just Between Ourselves, starring Alfred Molina - this is the first of Ayckbourn’s darkly comic masterpieces and involves a relentlessly cheerful handyman in a disastrously fractured marriage. Two couples develop an unlikely friendship in this painfully funny portrait of British suburban life. Cast: Gia Carides as Pam, Kenneth Danziger as Dennis, Judy Geeson as Vera, Miriam Margolyes as Marjorie, and Alfred Molina as Neil. Directed by Waris Hussein. Writers block, divorce, and a female robot - these are the ingredients for the hilarious Henceforward.... Alan Ayckbourn writes about the not so distant future of what lengths a man will go to be inspired again, gain the love of his daughter, and redress the pain of his past. Cast: Jared Harris as Jerome, Anne Heche as Nan (act I) and Corrina, Jack Davenport as Mervyn, Paula Jane Newman as Geain, Moira Quirk as Zoe and Nan (act II), and Darren Richardson as Lupus. Directed by Martin Jarvis. In the comedy Man of the Moment, the price of accidental fame is hashed out, inspired by the Great Train Robbers, such as Edward and Ronnie Biggs. It's about a famous bank robber and the clerk who foiled his biggest heist. Ayckbourn’s 1988 play anticipates the popularity - and absurdity - of reality TV. Cast: Rosalind Ayres as Jill Rillington, Jane Carr as Trudy Parks, Kenneth Danziger as Douglas Beechey, Martin Jarvis as Vic Parks, Ian Oglivy as Kenny Collins, and Yeardley Smith as Sharon Giffin. Directed by Robert Robinson.
Public Domain (P)2011 L.A. Theatre Works
Just Between Ourselves
Summary
The first of Ayckbourn's darkly comic masterpieces involves a relentlessly cheerful handyman in a disastrously fractured marriage. Two couples develop an unlikely friendship in this painfully funny portrait of British suburban life.
©2009 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works
Season's Greetings (Classic Radio Theatre)
Summary
A sparkling BBC Radio 4 production of Alan Ayckbourn’s festive play, starring Frances Barber, Phil Daniels, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Palmer and John Sessions.
Christmas is the season of good cheer and harmony among men, but things are not working out quite that way in the Bunker household. As a motley collection of friends and relatives fill the house with their own wishes, dreams and attitudes, the stage is set for seasonal disharmony and romantic intrigue.
It’s Christmas Eve and while Belinda is rushing around decorating the tree and seeing to all the guests and their needs, Eddie and Pattie are having a serious bust-up. Added to all of this, Bernard is conducting a chaotic rehearsal of his annual gift for the children - a puppet show of The Three Little Pigs - as his wife, Phyllis gets quietly sloshed in the kitchen on the cooking wine. Then something disastrous occurs...
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
Classic Radio Theatre: The Norman Conquests (Dramatised)
Summary
Robin Herford and Tessa Peake-Jones star in Alan Ayckbourn’s award-winning trilogy: Table Manners, Living Together, and Round and Round the Garden.
When the deviously amorous Norman plans a clandestine weekend away with his sister-in-law, he has some fun and games in mind. But not quite the fun and games that he gets....
Ayckbourn’s trilogy has been hailed as a mould-breaking masterpiece. All three plays take place concurrently so an exit in one becomes an entrance in another and can be played in any order. The story of the same dreadful weekend is illuminated from three different vantage points: the dining room, the sitting room, and the garden.
With a distinguished cast, including Robin Herford as Norman and Tessa Peake-Jones as Sarah, The Norman Conquests is a brilliantly entertaining comedy of our time: wise and witty, funny and profound.
The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights, and starring some of our finest actors.
©1973 Alan Ayckbourn (P)2010 BBC Audiobooks Ltd