Drowning On Dry Land: Facts

Key Facts relating to Alan Ayckbourn's Drowning On Dry Land.

• Drowning On Dry Land is Alan Ayckbourn's 66th play.
• The world premiere was held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on 4 May 2004.
• The London premiere was held at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London, on 23 February 2011.
• The title of the play came from an old English proverb: "It is folly to drown on dry land."
• The play was in part inspired by the Piers Morgan 2003 documentary The Importance Of Being Famous.
• The play's original title was Am I Famous Yet?
• Drowning On Dry Land is Alan Ayckbourn's second play to deal with media and celebrity, the first being Man Of The Moment (1988).
• It is one of Alan Ayckbourn's garden-set plays; other notable garden-set plays include Just Between Ourselves, Joking Apart, Woman In Mind, Garden and Snake In The Grass.
• It is the only Ayckbourn play to feature a court-room scene (or its nearest garden-set equivalent!) when Charlie and Marsha's lawyers lock horns over Marsha's claim of attempted rape in Act II, Scene 1.
• The original production was the first Ayckbourn world premiere to feature a black actress; although the role is not specifically written for a black character. Billie-Claire Wright played the role of Gale Gilchrist. Alan Ayckbourn's first play specifically written for a black actress would be My Wonderful Day (2009).

Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without the permission of the copyright holder.