Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn
Ovingham Reading Room, 28-30 October 2026 at 7:30pm
Our next performance will be a production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Confusions, a set of five short plays with Ayckbourn’s classic mix of humour, eccentricity, and… well… confusion. We will be performing three of the five plays: Mother Figure, Between Mouthfuls, and Gosforth’s Fete.
In Mother Figure, Lucy, a mother of three, wanders around her toy- and laundry-strewn house looking after her children in the absence of her husband Harry, a travelling salesman. As Lucy loses herself in the world of childcare, she receives a visit from her neighbour Rosemary who is concerned that Lucy has not been seen for days. Rather than extricating her, however, Rosemary finds herself drawn into Lucy’s determined mothering, a situation that only grows more hilarious when Rosemary is joined by Terry, her arrogant and chauvinistic husband…
In Between Mouthfuls, the action follows a waiter as she moves politely and seamlessly between two tables. At the first table, Donald who has just returned from a business trip to Italy is having dinner with his wife Emma. At the second table, Polly is having dinner with her husband Martin who has been managing his employer’s business during his absence. Soon, the couples’ stories start intertwining as the conversations grow increasingly acrimonious and take a surprising twist…
In Gosforth’s Fete, the local pub landlord, Gosforth, races to fix a host of last-minute troubles and hiccups with his carefully-planned village gala, including a broken PA system, looming storm clouds, and a troop of feral cub scouts. When the PA system suddenly starts working at the worst possible moment, the guest of honour launches into a wild partisan rant, and – worst of all – the tea urn malfunctions, the scene is set for a fall, metaphorically and literally… (Of course, it would never happen at the Goose Fair!)
Tickets
We will be putting on three performances of the play in the evening of Wednesday 28 October, Thursday 29 October, and Friday 30 October. The performance will be accompanied by a pie-and-peas supper, with both vegetarian and meat options available. Unfortunately, our suppliers cannot supply a gluten-free pastry.
Tickets will cost £15 with food and £10 without food, and can be ordered using the form below, with payment made at the door by cash or card on the day of the performance. Please use the drop-down list to select the number of tickets of each type you want, and click on ‘Add to cart’ next to each ticket type. If you then click on ‘Cart’, there is a very simple check-out process. Your order is complete when you see a “Payment confirmation” message.
You will receive email confirmation of your order. It may end up in your spam folder, so please check there as well. If you have any questions, or if you haven’t received the email confirming your order, please contact us at tickets@ovinghamdrama.org.uk.
Please note that the cut-off date for food orders is 22 October for all performances. Tickets without food will continue to be available up to the day of the play.
Wednesday, 28 October 7:30pm
| Ticket Type | Price | Qty. | Cart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat | £15 | ||
| No meal | £10 | ||
| Vegetarian | £15 |
Thursday, 29 October 7:30pm
| Ticket Type | Price | Qty. | Cart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat | £15 | ||
| No meal | £10 | ||
| Vegetarian | £15 |
Friday, 30 October 7:30pm
| Ticket Type | Price | Qty. | Cart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat | £15 | ||
| No meal | £10 | ||
| Vegetarian | £15 |