Virtual Reality: History
Virtual Reality is, essentially, a 'lost' Ayckbourn play. It was the playwright's first play of the new millennium, opening at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 2000 and following that it has never been seen again as the playwright made the decision to withdrew the play from future performance.During the late 1990s, Alan’s playwriting had been on a roll. He had had considerable success with audiences and critics alike with Things We Do For Love, Comic Potential and House & Garden. All had performed extremely well in Scarborough and gone on to acclaimed and popular runs in the West End. As such, his follow-up to the successful House & Garden was much anticipated.
Behind The Scenes: Strong Language
One of the few instances where Virtual Reality generated any substantive debate was in correspondence to the local newspaper and to Alan himself about the swearing within the play. As Alan has pointed out, most of the swearing comes from a hard-headed, alcoholic agent and her use of 'offensive' language was both realistic and warranted; the playwright has even suggested the character was inspired by his own famed Literary agent Margaret 'Peggy' Ramsay. It is also somewhat of a mystery how Alan's plays continue to generate complaints about the use of 'strong' language, particularly the specific accusation his plays didn't use to feature it when it has actually been a constant in his work since 1974! The playwright has also strongly argued it is a writer's job to reflect the language of the period they are writing in and to suggest that what was once seen as 'strong' language is now anything but an accepted and commonplace part of the English vernacular is naive and, possibly, censorious.
One of the few instances where Virtual Reality generated any substantive debate was in correspondence to the local newspaper and to Alan himself about the swearing within the play. As Alan has pointed out, most of the swearing comes from a hard-headed, alcoholic agent and her use of 'offensive' language was both realistic and warranted; the playwright has even suggested the character was inspired by his own famed Literary agent Margaret 'Peggy' Ramsay. It is also somewhat of a mystery how Alan's plays continue to generate complaints about the use of 'strong' language, particularly the specific accusation his plays didn't use to feature it when it has actually been a constant in his work since 1974! The playwright has also strongly argued it is a writer's job to reflect the language of the period they are writing in and to suggest that what was once seen as 'strong' language is now anything but an accepted and commonplace part of the English vernacular is naive and, possibly, censorious.
Alan had dealt with lack of communication before, but here he delves deeper positing why, when we have so many more ways to communicate via technology, we seem to be losing the ability to truly communicate with others. It is a theme he would return to with more success in the Damsels In Distress plays and, most notably, in Private Fears In Public Places.
The play is unusual in that it is also set in London, beginning a cycle of four consecutive plays set in the capital. In contemporary interviews, Alan felt this was due to the increased amount of time he had spent in the past few years in the city. The play also deals with difficulties of relationships with generation gaps and the different expectations and experiences each person brings to the relationship.
The play opened at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in February 2000 and was met with predominantly lukewarm or negative reviews. An oft-repeated criticism was the characters were largely unsympathetic. It is worth noting though that despite the general reception to the play, it did generate one of the most thoughtful and insightful critiques of Alan's writing for some time with an extensive review by Michael Billington which in its erudite dissection of Alan's writing generally as well as specifically to Virtual Reality, makes it stand as one of the essential reviews to read regarding Alan Ayckbourn in the new millennium (and certainly is far more perceptive in its analysis of the play - faults included - than the majority of the critiques for the play).
The climax of the play also caused some confusion with the protagonist Alex becoming one with his electronic Viewdow (to all intents and purposes, a digital window which displays computer-generated images). Whilst it is obviously a striking climatic action and image for the play, given the mechanics of the machine have been explained earlier it is unclear whether this is real (in which case, Alex would presumably be electrocuted instantly), imagined, metaphorical or a sort of deus ex machina. The lack of clarity arguably makes the climax confusing and unclear.
The play had a short regional tour following the initial Scarborough production and although it was deemed a success financially, the reviews did not improve and there was a distinct impression Alan was unhappy with the play; later confirmed by the playwright who admitted he had begun to realise the play was not what he intended as early as rehearsals.
As a result - and unusually - Virtual Reality was withdrawn. It has not been published nor is it available for production and the playwright has said he has no interest in revisiting or revising the play. During 2020, the playwright confirmed Virtual Reality has been permanently withdrawn from production.
Article by Simon Murgatroyd. Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without permission of the copyright holder.