Joking Apart

Anyone for tennis?

Richard and Anthea are the ideal couple. Charming, generous and successful, they can't help but attract loyal and loving friends. Can they?

Is it possible that being friends with such a golden couple can have its downfalls? Could you actually come to loathe such lovable people, especially when they are so… well… 'nice'?

Richard, Anthea and their friends repeatedly gather to relax and compete, both on and off the tennis court, as their private agonies emerge to devastating effect.

Played out in the same back garden over a twelve-year period, this painfully funny play explores the unrelenting themes of ageing, jealousy and unrequited love.

Of all his seventy-six plays (so far!), Sir Alan Ayckbourn has frequently said that Joking Apart is one of his favourites.