The Sparrow: History
The Sparrow is the last of Alan Ayckbourn’s early plays to be neither published nor performed again since its first production. Although Alan is not as dismissive of it as its other withdrawn predecessors, there is a sense of disappointment in the play's fate largely due to the response it received; this stood in direct contrast to the reception given to its immediate predecessor Relatively Speaking and its successor How The Other Half Loves.Behind The Scenes: Flying To The Big Screen
Little known about The Sparrow is it was considered for adaptation to the big screen. In The Bob Watson Archive at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, there is a letter from the British film-making company Amicus asking for a copy of the script for consideration as a 'motion picture.' Obviously, this went nowhere but it's an intriguing little-known fact. Quite how Amicus heard about the play is unknown as there appears to be no connection between the Library Theatre and the film company. Bizarrely, Alan's first two potential movie adaptations both arrived within the same month of July 1967 as a couple of weeks earlier, interest had also been expressed by Universal Pictures in adapting Relatively Speaking for the big screen.
Little known about The Sparrow is it was considered for adaptation to the big screen. In The Bob Watson Archive at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, there is a letter from the British film-making company Amicus asking for a copy of the script for consideration as a 'motion picture.' Obviously, this went nowhere but it's an intriguing little-known fact. Quite how Amicus heard about the play is unknown as there appears to be no connection between the Library Theatre and the film company. Bizarrely, Alan's first two potential movie adaptations both arrived within the same month of July 1967 as a couple of weeks earlier, interest had also been expressed by Universal Pictures in adapting Relatively Speaking for the big screen.
Historically, it is probably most notable for marking the first time Alan Ayckbourn directed one of his own plays in Scarborough (he had only previously directed his own work at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent). Subsequently every Ayckbourn play which has opened in Scarborough has been directed by Alan.
The Sparrow was originally entitled The Silver Collection and this title featured in early discussions about the summer programme and in the earliest advertising for the season. However, Alan disliked the title and it was later altered to The Sparrow; although in a programme note from 1968, Alan expressed dissatisfaction with this title too.
The production notably featured two actors who would go on to considerable success on stage and screen in the shape of Robert Powell and John Nettles. Alan had worked with Robert Powell previously at both the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent and on BBC Radio. The Sparrow was only John Nettles' second professional acting role following Alan Plater's Hop, Step and Jump at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre earlier in the season.
The Sparrow was performed for just three weeks during the summer repertory and the Scarborough Evening News noted the West End producer Peter Bridge visited the show with The Stage later reporting he had taken an option on the play with the intent of producing it in the West End. Unfortunately, the play never appeared and when negotiations began for Alan's subsequent play How The Other Half Loves, there were clear signs of tension between and Alan and Peter Bridge due to the latter not bringing either The Sparrow or an earlier play Standing Room Only to the London stage; according to Alan it was Bridge who famously compared The Sparrow to Ann Jellicoe's play The Knack - purely by virtue of both having a central female character - and this, alongside Bridge expressing difficulties in finding a suitable young cast, was the excuse for not taking it into the West End. It is far more likely though Bridge's real reason was he wanted a safe play in a similar mould to Relatively Speaking and into which he could put a bankable star name - The Sparrow fulfilled neither of these criteria.
Behind The Scenes: Heather Stoney
Although much of the attention regarding The Sparrow's cast is focussed on Robert Powell and John Nettles, there is another actor of significance to note. The play also featured Pamela Craig and Heather Stoney, the latter would go on to marry Alan Ayckbourn in 1997 having been long-term partners since the early 1970s and the collapse of his first marriage.
Although much of the attention regarding The Sparrow's cast is focussed on Robert Powell and John Nettles, there is another actor of significance to note. The play also featured Pamela Craig and Heather Stoney, the latter would go on to marry Alan Ayckbourn in 1997 having been long-term partners since the early 1970s and the collapse of his first marriage.
The only other public outings for the play have been a one-off rehearsed reading by the Huddersfield-based Dick & Lottie theatre company to mark its 10th anniversary in 2014 and several scenes performed as part of two Ayckbourn-related events organised in Scarborough by this website with the playwright. The play is also known to only existwith certainty in three original manuscripts; in the Ayckbourn Archive at Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York, in The Ayckbourn Collection at Scarborough Museums and Galleries and in the Lord Chamberlain's Collection in the British Library.
The Sparrow is the earliest play by Alan Ayckbourn in which the original contract for the play is known to have survived. The contract, between Alan Ayckbourn and Studio Theatre Ltd, is held in The Bob Watson Archive at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, and notes that Alan Ayckbourn received seven-and-a-half percent royalties from the gross box office receipts. This was guaranteed at a minimum of £100 by the Arts Council of Great Britain, although it is interesting to note that despite the guarantee the Arts Council's response to the play was less than enthusiastic. Extracts from reports by the various Arts Council script-readers describe the play as "a simple tale, of one basic situation. It is told with competent, unthrilling dialogue, but it doesn‘t get us anywhere", "It's only a slight little comedy, but it has a touch of quality. Dialogue and characterisation ring absolutely true" and "the author finishes the play with no finish. He literally leaves us exactly where we came in with the air of having had enough of it himself - so that‘s that."
Alan has said in subsequent years, he wonders how The Sparrow would have developed as a play had it been given more opportunity, but it was soon forgotten amidst the success of the West End production of Relatively Speaking in that same summer of 1967 and the consequent astonishing success of the plays which followed it. Although largely forgotten, many of Alan’s dominant themes are clearly on display and it offers a glimpse of a darker edge to Ayckbourn’s writing which would not appear again for several years to come.
Article by Simon Murgatroyd. Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without permission of the copyright holder.