LONDON CLASSIC THEATRE PRESENTS ALAN AYCKBOURN’S MUCH-LOVED COMEDY

Ashley Cook as Colin, Kevin Drury as Paul

From the company behind Equus and Entertaining Mr Sloane comes an all-new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of London Classic Theatre, this brand new production will visit Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre from 8 to 13 June.  

Wealthy, unfulfilled housewife Diana arranges a gathering of old friends to cheer up bereaved Colin, whose fiancée drowned two months earlier.  Paul, her bullying, self-absorbed husband, has recently had a dalliance with Evelyn, the glamorous wife of his friend and incompetent business associate, John.  The party is completed by long-suffering Marge, who has left Gordon, her hypochondriac spouse, ailing at home. 

Preparations for the party spark tensions and open old wounds. As lingering resentments and deep-rooted jealousies surface, an unexpectedly cheerful Colin strolls into the mayhem. 

Acerbic and painfully funny, Absent Friends explores friendship, marriage and what it ultimately means to be happy.  In one of his finest plays, Ayckbourn’s craftsmanship and acute social observation have never been sharper or more biting. 

Alan Ayckbourn is an Olivier and Tony Award winning playwright who has written 78 plays, more than half of which have been produced in London's West End as well as around the world.  Some of his best known work includes Absurd Person Singular, The Norman Conquests, Relatively Speaking, Bedroom Farce, A Chorus of Disapproval and Communicating Doors.

Tickets for Absent Friends are priced from £11.25 - £26 with concessions available. To book, call the Belgrade Box Office on 024 7655 3055 or visit www.belgrade.co.uk where tickets are cheaper.