Man of the Moment: In Brief
Man of the Moment
Play Number: 35World Premiere: 14 February 1990
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: Samuel French
Other Media: Radio
Cast: 5m / 5f *
Run Time: 2hr 5m
Synopsis: A satirical attack on the media obsession with celebrity centring on the reunion of a have-a-go hero and the bank robber - now a media celebrity - he tackled during a heist.
Note: The set features a swimming pool, which is a significant part of the action.
* The play concludes with the company replaced by seven 'actors' - only with one speaking role - and these additional actors should be considered when producing the work.
- Man Of The Moment is Alan Ayckbourn's 35th play.
- The world premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, on 10 August, 1988.
- The London premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Globe Theatre on 14 February 1990.
- Man Of The Moment was the first Ayckbourn play to be staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round following the playwright's two year sabbatical at the National Theatre.
- The play was initially conceived for an abandoned plan to have a new Ayckbourn play run in repertory in the West End with an Ayckbourn-directed production of Shakespeare's Othello.
- Part of the inspiration for the play was Alan Ayckbourn passing the flower stall of the 'Great Train' robber Buster Edwards whilst working at the National Theatre. He wondered why the villains were remembered whilst others that should be - such as the tragic driver of the train, Jack Mills - are forgotten.
- As of writing, it is the first and only Ayckbourn play to have been set in another country (excepting the science fiction / fantasy plays set on different planets or fantasy locations). The play is set in an undisclosed part of the Mediterranean.
- The play features a swimming pool which must be of length enough to give the impression at one stage that Vic is swimming lengths of the pool! It is one of a number of Ayckbourn plays to feature water which includes, most notably, Way Upstream, where the majority of the stage is flooded and turned into a canal.
- The London production of Man Of The Moment starred Michael Gambon as Douglas Beechey; winning an Olivier Award for Best Actor. Michael Gambon has appeared in more West End productions of Alan Ayckbourn's plays than any other actor.
- The London production was designed by Roger Glossop and the swimming pool contained 36 tonnes of water! The stage had to be underpinned to hold the weight of the set.
- In 2009, it was revived as the final play in the Ayckbourn at 70 festival held at the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, and the only production in the festival to be directed by the playwright himself.
- Whilst written for the stage, Man Of The Moment obviously works well as a radio drama as it has been adapted for the radio three times in 1992, 1994 and 2009.
- Although published as a play text by Samuel French, Man of the Moment was also published in the collection Alan Ayckbourn: Plays 1 (Faber).