Alan Ayckbourn stole my sex-swap play, writer claims
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 8 March 09
Alan Ayckbourn stole my sex-swap play, writer claims
Comedy written by an unknown in the mid-9s bears strong similarities to a production by one of the giants of British theatre. Simon Tait
It could have been the sub-text to one of his own drawing room comedies. A much-loved, respected, honoured, even knighted, playwright is approaching his 70th birthday when, out of the blue, a young writer claims that one of his plays was based on a script submitted to the great man more than a decade before…
But this is real life, and Sir Alan Ayckbourn, one of Britain’s most popular living playwrights for such favourites as Absurd Person Singular, Bedroom Farce, and the trilogy The Norman Conquests, has been accused of plagiarism.
Alex Jones, a younger writer who has had two plays commissioned and produced by Ayckbourn’s Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, says the similarities between his Phil And Jill And Jill And Phil and Ayckbourn’s If I Were You are too close to be coincidental.
Jones’s claim is supported by a copyright specialist lawyer who believes it would have a strong case in court, and that he should be entitled to financial compensation.
‘Alan Ayckbourn is a national treasure, he was helpful to me in putting on two of my plays and he’s a hero of mine’ Jones told the Independent on Sunday.
‘I don’t believe there was anything malicious in what he did, but his play has clearly been based on mine without any acknowledgement, and although Phil And Jill has been put on elsewhere in the world it can never be produced in this country again because of Ayckbourn’s play.’
Both comedies deal with a domestic situation in which a middle class couple awake one morning to discover they inhabit eachother’s bodies, and have to fulfil eachother’s roles, with the female coping better than the male.
Nicola Solomon, a lawyer with the Finers Stephens Innocent partnership, said: ‘It appears that there has been both a breach of confidence and infringement of copyright whether knowingly or unknowingly by Sir Alan Ayckbourn,’ and she cites no fewer than ten plot similarities which point to copyright infringement, including the main female in both plays being called Jill.
‘Sir Alan Ayckbourn has written the play in his own words as one would expect and there are no instances of direct language copying other than the most banal’ she says. ‘However, that is not enough to defeat a claim for copyright infringement.’
But Jones cannot afford to take his case to court. ‘For me it’s the principal,’ he said. ‘I’m a struggling playwright that has to do manual work on building sites to get by, and it’s really upsetting to feel that my hard work can be ripped off like this’.
Ayckbourn, who retires as artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre this month after 30 years and is 70 in April, flatly denies that his play owes anything to Jones’s. His agent, Tom Erhardt, said Sir Alan has never read the play or seen a performance of it. He maintained that gender reversal is a common dramatic theme, and given that theme, ‘similarity in the characters is not surprising’. Other parallels such as the lead female’s name, he said, are coincidental – ‘if it was a case of plagiarism, the first thing a writer would do is change the names of the characters’.
Phil And Jill And Jill And Phil was written in the mid-1990s and submitted to Sir Alan Ayckbourn for possible production at Scarborough. It was returned by Ayckbourn’s then literary manager with a brief letter which said: ‘The theme of gender reversal is an interesting one but I don’t think you really come up with enough original twists or insights to sustain the play’, and then wished Jones luck in placing it elsewhere.
Eventually he did, and the play was produced jointly by the Swan Theatre, Worcester, and the Coventry Belgrade in 1999 with good reviews. Ayckbourn was sent a copy of the script again, Jones says. In 2004 the Stephen Josephs Theatre presented Jones’s successful play Fields of Gold, during which Ayckbourn discussed Phil And Jill And Jill And Phil among other plays with Jones during a brief and cordial meeting, the only time they met.
Two years later, on 17 October 2006, If I Were You, Ayckbourn’s 70th play, had its premiere at Scarborough, but before its opening night Jones had been alerted by an actor who had auditioned for it and had also appeared in Jones’s version.
‘I couldn’t believe it, it was a shock, and I didn’t at first know what I could do,’ Jones said. He contacted the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain who forwarded both scripts to Solomon for an opinion and she recommended the Guild sponsor a court case. However, because both writers are members, said assistant general secretary Naomi MacDonald, the Guild is unable to support either side against the other.
Now in his early forties and a former actor, Alex Jones has over 40 plays under his belt in his 20 years as a playwright. His work is closely associated with current issues, and his play about global warming, Canned Peaches and Syrup, was the critics’ choice in the Los Angeles Times when it was produced at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2007. River’s Up, originally commissioned by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, is about the aftermath of a flood and is to go on a national tour later this year; Jones is negotiating another tour for his latest play, I Am A Minger, which addresses teenage bullying and self-harming. He has also been commissioned to work on a film script of his play Noise, which received enthusiastic reviews after its premiere at the Soho Theatre in London in 2002.
12/5/08, Tom Erhardt: Alan Ayc kbourn says he has never read PHIL AND JILL AND JILL AND PHIL by Alex Jones, nor has he ever sen a productin lof his Pl;ay.
The Steophen Joseph Theatre maintains comrepehenisve records, as does Alan humself, an dhere follows a history of Mr Jones’ assocation with the Stephen Joseph Theatre,
1. In Oct ober 1995, Alex Jones sent his Play *(P&J) to the theatre;s then Literary M,Anager, Connal Orton, having previously spoken to him about it. He did not send it to Alan. Attached is Connal’s report. His reply can be seenin FSI’s letter. Connal never gave the Play to A,an to read. What woulo have been rhe point given his feelingds about it? It is also highly unlikely thathe would have said Alan had enjoyed it – unless tobe diplomatic.
2. Connal continued to read Alex Jones’ works and see productions of them.
3. In May 1997 Connal suggested to Alan that8t might be an idea to meet Alex with a view to a commission. Copy attached. It seems this was the first time that the writer was brought properly to Alan’s attention. Tghere is no reference4 to P&J in the memo.
There is a note attached to the memo rom Hetaher Stobey (ASlan’s assistant) which was passed to Laura Hatrvey when she tok over as Literary M<anager in 1999 saying “Connal very keen opn this writer. AA stil has not read them. Wonders what you think?”
Alex Jones’ relationship wioth the theate was then taken forward by Laura Harvey and th enewly appointed Assiociate Director, Laurie Sansom, who direcdted, first, a lunchgtime show iof his, RIVER’S UP in 2002, and subsequentloy a mainhouse OPlay, FIELDS OF GOLD. The drafts of these and rewrites seem top have all been with Laurie and Laura, slthough Alan had some input much later down the line. As Alex Jones states in FSI’s letter, it was only in 2004 during rehearsals of FIELDS OF GOLD that he and Alan met. As Alan recalls, this was a biref meting in the Green Room.
Redgarding similarities between the two scripts,certainly gender role reversal has been used oftenm on stage and in film. It isz coincidental that the woman in each olay is called Jill – and if it was a case of plaiarism, the first thing a writer would do is change the names of the characters.
The similarity in the characters is not suroprising, given the theme of the Play. Th couple in Alan’s Play are like the coup0les in many of his pklays – he writes abnout middle or lower class suburbia.
The settings have to be similar – if you’re writing about a married coupleyou’d have to set th ePlay ithe home and at the place of work. You have to introduce the characters at ghome in the mornign when they are together – the man being at work al day.
Once gthe decision is made to write a lay about gender reversal of a married couple, the secens almost write themselves: the wlman goes to werk and proves sheis just as capable as rthe man, if not more so. The role reversal would have to take lace in bed, where else oculd it be done? Of course therel;s confusion about names,clothes, etc. and the man not wanting to take on the womanls duties. Al th eplot similarities are similar bnecaus thye are quite obvious, given the theme of the Plays. There is amlst always another male character in a Play, it’s not unusual.
Since th Jones Play was producedin 1999 and the Atyc kbourn Play ing the fal iof 2006, surel Mr. Jones has had ample opportunity to exploit his oplay during th e intervenking seven years, and he can contionue to do so.
Alan Ayckbourn has never read P&J. It was sent to Connal Orton, who never passed it on to Alan because he wasnlt enthustiatsic about that particular Play.
In September 2006 he returned to work and premièred his 70th play If I Were You at the Stephen Joseph Theatre on 17 October 2006.
The lawyer reckons that Ayckbourn should pay something for the use of my play; particularly as it’s going to be very difficult for me to get another production now that someone with his reputation has a play out there that is so similar, she also reckons that he should acknowledge the fact that he has used my play. But for me it’s the principal – I’m a struggling playwright that has to do manual work on building sites to get by, and it’s really upsetting to feel that my hard work can be ripped off like this. I have had great reviews for my work when its out there, and the audience reaction is generally positive, even for the stuff that’s considered controversial, but I still find it difficult to get plays commissioned, and this kind of stuff doesn’t help at all, it just maked me feel ‘what’s the point?’ But at the end of the day I will keep on writing because its what I do, and there’s always something that fires me up and makes me think ‘that’s important – someone should point that out’. Having said all of this, I’m still nervous about the establishment’s reaction as I’m a minor playwright I guess, and Ayckbourn is a real national treasure. What I’d love to do is get another production out there in this country so audiences could see for themselves. I’m still waiting to hear about Rome, the producer there is waiting to hear if a certain famous Italian actress is available… we’ll see. Thanks for all you’re doing by the way; I really appreciate it, it’s good to be able to trust someone in this business. Having said that there are some great people out there who love my work, so I’m not all doom and gloom, and I’m still hoping to make the film version of NOISE sometime soon.
Alex Jones is an established playwright with almost forty scripts behind him, and film version of one of his plays is on the offing. But he left school at 16 as an apprenticed mechanic and became an actor in his mid-20s before turning to writing. His new play, Canned Peaches in Syrup, has just opened in Los Angeles where his Noise got rave reviews in 2002.
What brought you to the theatre?
I had never been to the theatre in my life and one day a friend of mine dragged me off to the RSC. At the time I was working as a steel-fixer, and naturally thought I wouldn’t understand a word; but the whole experience blew me away and I saw every production there that season – I knew at last what I wanted to do with my life and totally went for it, studying in the evenings and eventually applying for drama school.
Was it difficult to get into drama school?
I auditioned for two drama schools and was accepted by both, but decided to go to the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama. I was the first person in my family to go to college; this was no mean feat as I’d kind of flunked out at school and didn’t have a qualification worth a whistle. My local authority, Sandwell Council, were really supportive, though, and I got the grant; without which I definitely wouldn’t have gone.
Were you taught anything about playwriting there?
No, it was very much a practical acting course in those days; lots of productions, voice training, fencing, dancing, singing, that sort of thing.
What, where and when was your first success?
My first professional commission was for the Birmingham Rep, Mickey and Me, a family show about a dead magician that returns to help out a kid that was being bullied. But my first big success was Noise at Soho Theatre (2002), which had reviews to die for and has been performed internationally ever since. But I have to mention the late, great Jill Fraser from the Watermill at Newbury who was very much my champion and produced some of my finest work, including Dead Wood, set at the time of the Great War, and Mr and Mrs Schultz, which was a harrowing exploration of Nazi fugitives and the holocaust – she took risks because she thought it was important, and not many directors stick their neck out like her.
You seem to have developed a gift for foreseeing phenomena such as global warming sometimes years before they hit the headlines. How much of this is luck and how much research?
I think it’s because I want to write about the important issues. I’ve been an active campaigner for Greenpeace for many years, and wrote Canned Peaches in Syrup a long time ago, but when the Larsen B ice shelf (an area the size of Wales) broke away from the Antarctic continent before the end of the last millennium I knew the game was up as far as the environment was concerned. So I wrote River’s Up for Alan Ayckbourn’s Stephen Joseph Theatre about a middle-aged couple who live by the River Severn and suddenly find themselves caught up in a cataclysmic global event when the flood waters don’t recede. This was in 2000, and when the BBC recorded the radio version they postponed it for over a year as serious flooding was happening globally and it was deemed insensitive to put it out at the time.
The blurb for Canned Fruit warns of on-stage simulated cannibalism. Is it important to shock your audiences?
I never mean to shock audiences and am genuinely surprised by the reaction my plays sometimes cause. Audiences at Noise were reduced to tears, and some people found it so disturbing they literally had to leave the theatre, but I know it was because they found the drama had touched something personal within themselves, and you can’t apologise for that. But I do write comedies too.
Critics have claimed that there is a shortage of good new plays. Are they right?
It’s probably because they see the same old faces producing the same old stuff; there’s plenty of great new plays out there, but perhaps producers don’t want to risk it.
As you career has developed, does it become easier to get your work performed?
Not really, I have to battle even harder to get my stuff produced and consequently have begun to develop my screen writing more. There’s a real entrenched snobbery about theatre in this country, and consequently we tend to ignore the writers who have real things to say about the world we live in until the issues actually become trendy. I think that producers and directors should take a leaf out of Jill Fraser’s book and take some risks.
What have been your worst and best theatre experiences?
The worst, watching Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers at the Birmingham Rep – two and a half hours of my life I will never get back. The best, watching the RSC company perform Shakespeare’s plays; I can’t single out one production, because so many have just been brilliant. Shakespeare is and always will be the world’s greatest playwright, my inspiration and the reason I am here answering these questions.
