Sisterly Feelings: Frequently Asked Questions
Alan Ayckbourn's Archivist Simon Murgatroyd's answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Alan Ayckbourn's Sisterly Feelings. If you have a question about this or any other of Alan Ayckbourn's plays, you can contact the website via the Contact Us page.Does the random element of Sisterly Feelings have to be included?
While much of the fun - and point - of Sisterly Feelings is the random elements which decide the choice of scenes used in performance, the random elements do not have to be used. Indeed it is common in productions which do feature the random elements to have fixed performances in order for audiences to see the other variant of the play without having the chance of a 'random' evening replicating what they have previously seen.
Obviously the play was intended to have the random choice of scenes, but the play can be performed 'fixed' generally using the Abigail and Dorcas variants of the plays, advertising which variation of the play is being performed.
Can I stage just one of the possible variations of Sisterly Feelings?
Sisterly Feelings has four possible variations - although only two of them are named - and whilst it was obvious the intention of the playwright that the possibility of any of the four variations could be performed thanks to the random element, it is possible to just perform one of the variations. If this is done though, it is always best to make a note that it is a 'fixed' production of whichever variant is chosen and that the random element is not being used; given Sisterly Feelings is well known as an Ayckbourn play with a random element, it makes sense to ensure audiences are not attending expecting the random choices if they are not going to happen.
All research for this page by Simon Murgatroyd.