Woman in Mind: In Brief
Woman in Mind
Play Number: 32World Premiere: 30 May 1985
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: Samuel French
Other Media: Radio
Cast: 4m / 4f
Run Time: 2hr 5m
Synopsis: Told from the first person perspective of Susan, a woman going through a breakdown. Her vivid fantasy life, created as a means to cope with the banalities of her real life, gradually merge with her real life with devastating consequences.
- Woman In Mind is Alan Ayckbourn's 32nd play.
- The world premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, on 30 May 1985.
- The London premiere - directed by Alan Ayckbourn - was held at the Vaudeville Theatre on 3 September 1986; the same theatre where Alan Ayckbourn would revive the play in 2009.
- It is the only 'subjective' play written by Alan Ayckbourn; the entire play is seen through the eyes of Susan and reflects her perceptions of the world.
- Woman in Mind was partially inspired by Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.
- It is one of the only Ayckbourn plays where the lead character (Susan in this case), does not leave the stage at any point throughout the play; the other notable example is Winnie in My Wonderful Day (2009).
- The West End premiere saw Julia McKenzie win the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress whilst the Broadway premiere saw Stockard Channing win the Drama Desk Best Actress Award,
- The play was adapted for the radio by the BBC in 2000 with Julia McKenzie and Martin Jarvis reprising their West End roles of Susan and Gerald; in 2014, another radio production by the BBC was broadcast with Lesley Sharpe as Susan and Malcolm Sinclair as Gerald.
- Alan Ayckbourn revived Woman In Mind in 2008 to great acclaim with Janie Dee as Susan - a production which had been in the planning prior to his stroke in 2006; Sir Peter Hall had also wanted to revive the play with Janie Dee.
- Despite other observers and authors suggesting it is an autobiographical play, Alan Ayckbourn has always firmly denied this to be the case and suggests it is no more autobiographical than any of his other plays.
- The 2009 West End production marked the first time Alan Ayckbourn had directed in London since Damsels In Distress in 2002. Although he has directed in venues such as the Orange Tree and the Tricycle since, this marked the final production he would direct in the West End.
- Although published as a play text by Samuel French, Woman in Mind was also published as a single play text by Faber.