Second Helping (1980)

World Premiere: 5 August 1980
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough

Description: Revue
Composer: Paul Todd

Published / Available to Stage: No

History

Second Helping is Alan Ayckbourn's third revue with the composer Paul Todd and preceded their first full-length collaboration in the same year, Suburban Strains. The revue was written as a lunchtime entertainment which was performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough, alternately with a second, unrelated lunchtime revue First Course.

There is no plot to the piece, presenting as it does ten different views of love. The revue has never been published and is not available for production, but is available to read in situ in the Ayckbourn Archive at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.

Synopsis / Songs

Second Helping offers ten different views of Love in its many forms. In Friday the Thirteenth, a bank clerk falls instantly in love with April, a new customer; a kind of one-act song. Casual Conversation - the real truth behind the lines in a normal 'chat-up'. Passion - a glimpse of a more physical kind of love coming from a nurse to her patient. Jubilee Road - Selina is at an awkward age, and don't her parents know it: she feels unloved, unwanted, and there's nothing she can do about it, except fantasise. Collaboration is the key to a healthy marriage; here the husband tells us all about it. Fancy Meeting You - two ex-lovers meet by accident, apparently, and briefly re-live their memories and the events that have happened since their split-up. A Boy's Best Friend - is his mother. Showbiz Blues - the story of a night-club pianist whose dream-lady, a singer called Anita, came and went. Unlove Song - man and wife desperate to separate, but not before they let us in on the faults of their other half. Love Song - is just that.

The Songs

1. Friday the Thirteenth
2. Casual Conversation
3. Passion
4. Jubilee Road
5. Collaboration

6. Fancy Meeting You
7. A Boy's Best Friend
8. Showbiz Blues
9. Unlove Song
10. Love Song

Premiere Production Details 1980)

World Premiere: 5 August 1980
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough
Staging: End-stage

Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Musical Director: Paul Todd
Stage Manager: Amanda Saunders

The Company
David Bamber
Ronald Herdman
Tessa Peake-Jones
Susan Uebel

Piano: Paul Todd

Second Helping (1980)

History

Synopsis / Songs

Premiere Production Details 1980)

Further Reading