A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE

How the Other Half Loves

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  3w, 3m

Alan Ayckbourn

How the Other Half Loves
by Alan Ayckbourn

"You can go into the Royale Theatre stone cold sober and come out a couple of hours later drunk from laughter." - UPI

How the Other Half Loves

Request licence
Get the Script
  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 3m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
There are three couples in this play, the men all working for the same firm. One of the younger men is having an affair with the wife of the oldest, and when each returns home suspiciously late one night or early one morning they invent a story about having to spend some time smoothing domestic matters in the home of the third couple. Both living rooms are shown in the single set, and both share a common dining room which takes on a character of its own as it serves two dinners simultaneously on two different nights. Of course, the third couple have to show up to put the fat in the fire, but that complication only adds to the fun of this famous farce.
Keywords
M3 (30s, middle age) F3 (30s, 40s)
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting Two merged living-rooms
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

"A theatrical adroitness as clever as tennis at its best." - The New York Times

Videos

  • Alan Ayckbourn on Growing As a Dramatist youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on Growing As a Dramatist

  • Alan Ayckbourn on Comparisons youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on Comparisons

  • Alan Ayckbourn on How to Approach His Plays youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on How to Approach His Plays

  • Alan Ayckbourn on Getting Started youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on Getting Started

  • Alan Ayckbourn on the Difference Between Then and Now youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on the Difference Between Then and Now

  • Alan Ayckbourn on Ideas youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on Ideas

  • Alan Ayckbourn on Writing a Well Made Play youtube thumbnail

    Alan Ayckbourn on Writing a Well Made Play

Show more +

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
    This title may have restrictions in place for London based productions. Please submit a licence request to confirm specific availability.

Scripts

Available Formats:
Get the Script

Authors

Alan Ayckbourn

Alan Ayckbourn

A playwright and theatre director, to date Alan Ayckbourn has written 89 plays – Family Album attracted four-star reviews when it premiered in September 2022 at the Stephen Joseph, where nearly all his plays are first staged.

However, this year he will stage his 88th play Welc ...

View full profile

Now Playing