Christmas V Mastermind: Facts
Christmas V Mastermind
Play Number: 5World Premiere: 26 December 1962
Venue: Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: No
Other Media: No
Cast: 6m / 3f
Run Time: TBC
- Christmas V Mastermind is Alan Ayckbourn's fifth play.
- The world premiere was held at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, on 26 December 1962.
- It was the first of two plays to be premiered at the Victoria Theatre whilst Alan Ayckbourn was employed as an actor, director and playwright at the venue between 1962 and 1964. The other play was Mr Whatnot.
- Christmas V Mastermind is one of only five plays written by Alan Ayckbourn which have not received their world premiere in Scarborough. The others are Mr Whatnot (Victoria Theatre); Jeeves (Her Majesty's Theatre, London), A Small Family Business (National Theatre, London) and All Lies (The Old Laundry Theatre, Bowness-on-Windermere).
- Christmas V Mastermind is the first play written by Alan Ayckbourn which is actually credited to Alan Ayckbourn. Prior to this play, he wrote under the pseudonym of Roland Allen; although just to confuse matters, his fourth play Standing Room Only was originally credited to Roland Allen when first produced but is now credited to Alan Ayckbourn.
- Christmas V Mastermind is the second of Alan Ayckbourn's early 'family plays'. However, the 'family' plays are officially considered to begin with Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays (1988) due to the earlier plays being withdrawn.
- Christmas V Mastermind marked the final time Alan Ayckbourn would perform on stage in one of his own plays.
- It marked the first time the actress Heather Stoney would appear in an Alan Ayckbourn play. She would become one of the most prolific actors to appear in world premieres of Alan's plays.
- Christmas V Mastermind has never been published and is not available to produce.