Book Review: Improbable Fiction by Alan Ayckbourn

Improbable Fiction by Alan Ayckbourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

During September and October of 2013 I worked on Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn at my local amateur theatre. I'm currently working on a new play, and one of the actors recommended Improbable Fiction to me, as it was somewhat like this one.
It didn't take me long to get stuck in. It's easy to read Ayckbourn's work, it reads like a novel rather than a play. The characters in this one are all eclectic and different. I got some of the female characters mixed up initially but as the play got going it became easier. I love that the names of the characters are distinctive and unusual too.
As a lover of the theatre and creative writing I really identified with this play. I know the frustration of not being able to get started on a book. One of the characters says that the book is good because she hasn't started it yet and as soon as she writes words it makes it worse. Hearing it described that way makes perfect sense and something I completely understand.
During the second act of the play, the creations of each of the characters come to life. This was the part that I felt was just ingenious. I imagined it as a stage manager with all the costume changes and the lighting changes and wish I'd been to see the production of Improbable Fiction when it was on at the Attfield.

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