Body Language: Facts
Body Language
Play Number: 39World Premiere: 21 May 1990
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: Samuel French
Other Media: No
Cast: 5m / 3f
Run Time: 2hr 10m
Synopsis: A tea-party has been arranged for the recently bereaved Colin by 'friends' and acquaintances. However, Colin's acceptance of his situation and of his fulfilling time with his fiancée only serves to highlight and widen the rifts in the other relationships.
Note: The first Ayckbourn play to be set in 'real time'.
- Body Language is Alan Ayckbourn's 39th play.
- The world premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, on 21 May 1990.
- A revised version of the play - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 24 August 1999.
- One of the major inspirations for the play was Alan Ayckbourn telling the rather gruesome story to his acting company of how the actress Jayne Mansfield was involved in a tragic car accident which decapitated her. As he told the story, the actress Francis Jeater revealed she had also been in a car crash which had seen her go through a windscreen; Alan took it as providence for writing the play!
- The dialogue of Hravic Zyergefoovc, the surgeon of uncertain eastern-European origin, is from an entirely fictional language created by Alan Ayckbourn. The playwright even created a dictionary of phrases with the intent of creating a character that no-one in the play or in the audience could understand!
- The original production marked the first time Alan Ayckbourn worked with the composer John Pattison, who became the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round's Musical Director. He would compose music for a number of Alan Ayckbourn's plays and he would also work with Alan Ayckbourn on the musicals Dreams From A Summer House and A Word From Our Sponsor.
- Body Language is regarded as one of Alan Ayckbourn's forays into fantasy within his 'adult' plays, inspired by the success of his writing for young people starting with Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays in 1988. Body Language and Wildest Dreams are considered his first forays into fantasy which were influenced by these experiences.
- The play is one of Alan Ayckbourn's 'garden' plays being set entirely outside. Other plays set in the garden or equivalent include Round And Round The Garden, Joking Apart, Woman In Mind and Snake In The Grass.
- Body Language was intended to transfer straight from the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, to the West End with its original company - which would have been a first for the playwright. However, the transfer did not take place and as of writing, Body Language has still not been produced in the West End.
- The play is a rarity in being one of only several plays which have been revised and revived by Alan Ayckbourn without being presented under a new title. The other notable play to have been revised like this is It Could Be Any One Of Us (several other plays have had major revisions, but then been presented under different titles).