The Revengers' Comedies, Part 1
by Alan Ayckbourn
What readers are saying
Readers have mixed feelings about the play. Some appreciate the humor and clever premise, while others feel the plot becomes overly convoluted and the comedy fails to deliver consistently.
Synopsis
Henry Bell has come to the Albert Bridge to throw himself off because he has lost his wife and his job.
Instead, he saves Karen Knightly who has thrown herself off the bridge already and is dangling by her caught coat.
They spend a long night driving.
Henry learns that Karen has been jilted by a lover who has gone back to his wife.
She suggests revenge as a way to heal their emotional wounds: she will fix Henry's dreadful former boss and Henry must ruin her ex lover's wife.
Karen executes her part of the bargain with brilliance, but Henry falls in love with the wife.
As he is drawn deeper and deeper into Karen's world he realizes that she is quite mad.
Somehow he must escape from her and win the long suffering Imogen from her cad of a husband.
A play in two parts/segments.
The Revengers' Comedies is usually performed on two successive evenings since each segment is over two hours long.
Press Reviews
"Gloriously funny."
— Sunday Express
"Shows Ayckbourn's rare gift for combining moral fevour with the ability to wring from us tears of helpless laughter."
— The Guardian
Videos
Alan Ayckbourn on the Difference Between Then and Now
Publication
The Revengers' Comedies, Part 1 is a comedy play written by Alan Ayckbourn and published by Samuel French (1993).
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Restrictions: Major Markets Only (US) / Standard Restriction (UK)
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