Family Album: In Brief
Family Album
Play Number: 87World Premiere: 6 September 2022
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: Samuel French
Other Media: Streaming
Cast: 1 male / 4 female
Run Time: 1hr 35mins
Synopsis: A play in which three generations of the same family in the same house - interweaving between 1952, 1992 and 2022 - show how one generation affects the next.
- Family Album is Alan Ayckbourn's 87th play.
- The world premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 6 September 2022.
- Family Album follows one family in three time periods: 1952, 1992 and 2022. It marks the first time the playwright has written three timelines which interweave simultaneously on stage.The play was inspired by the BBC documentary television series A House Through Time.
- Family Album has a mirror structure in which the events of Act II reflect that of Act I. Whilst Act I opens with the family in 1952, Act II opens with the family in 2022. Events - particularly relating to 1992 - are those seen and presented in a different light, allowing the events of the middle period to become clearer.
- The play's time period of 70 years between 1952 and 1992 coincidentally mirrored that of Queen Elizabeth II, who came to the throne in 1952 and who died in September 2022, during the original run of the play.
- Family Album was filmed by the SJT - only the second Ayckbourn directed production to be filmed - and was streamed from 22 October to 5 November 2022 via the theatre's website.