Theatre Myths: Supernatural Plays

This section of the website features articles by Alan Ayckbourn's Archivist Simon Murgatroyd concerning historical myths about theatre in the round in Scarborough.

Theatre Myths: Things That Go Bump - Trilogy or Not?

by Simon Murgatroyd

The Myth: Alan Ayckbourn has written a trilogy of supernatural plays entitled Things That Go Bump.

True or False: False.

The Explanation: This is a prime example of the dangers of relying on Wikipedia for information - and flaws within Wikipedia itself - as despite being told numerous times this is no such thing as the Things That Go Bump trilogy there has been a refusal to alter this information and it continues to promote factually incorrect and inaccurate material.

Let us state unequivocally: There is no trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn called Things That Go Bump nor has he written a trilogy of supernatural plays. Alan Ayckbourn considers he has written just two trilogies, The Norman Conquests and Damsels In Distress.

The idea that there is a third supernatural trilogy goes back to 1994 when Alan Ayckbourn wrote Haunting Julia, a supernatural thriller which was staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round and featured a cast of three men. Some years later, Alan Ayckbourn decided to write another thriller with supernatural suggestions called Snake In The Grass in 2002 which featured a cast of three women. The two plays are entirely unrelated though aside from a theme of the relationship between parents and their children.

In 2008, Alan Ayckbourn's final summer season as Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre was announced. The season centred on three plays, Haunting Julia, Snake In The Grass and his new play, Life & Beth. The playwright had decided it might be a fun idea to revive his two early plays and then write a third play which united the all male and all female casts of the other plays. This would also be a supernatural play, but which had absolutely no links to the other plays other than featuring the same number of actors as the combined casts of Haunting Julia and Snake In The Grass. At no point did Alan Ayckbourn ever suggest or say this was a trilogy of plays.

To promote the season, the marketing department advertised the season as the Things That Go Bump season - given all three plays had a supernatural angle to them. This advertising was specific to the 2008 summer season and was never intended to be a trilogy name for the three plays. Again, Alan Ayckbourn himself never referred to the plays as the Things That Go Bump trilogy - it was purely the name used for advertising the summer season.

However, during the season several reports - most notably one in The Independent - referred to the plays as the Things That Go Bump trilogy. This was factually incorrect but was never corrected at the time. Subsequently, Wikipedia added Things That Go Bump as an Alan Ayckbourn trilogy to the website, perpetuating a myth.

Ironically, Wikipedia has refused to correct this as despite being told by representatives of the playwright this is incorrect, the website refers to the fact that The Independent used the title and that apparently has greater weight than the playwright's own views and the actual facts - or, to be pedantic, the truth. This is also despite the fact the original report in The Independent was patently incorrect and featured a number of other significant factual inaccuracies.

So it is a myth - or boils down to whether you believe Alan Ayckbourn or Wikipedia about the playwright's intentions. As far as Alan Ayckbourn himself is concerned, he has not written a trilogy of supernatural plays; he does not consider Haunting Julia, Snake In The Grass and Life & Beth to be a trilogy; even if he were to ever consider the plays a trilogy - or three loosely connected plays - he would never refer to them as the Things That Go Bump trilogy.

In Summary: Don't trust or rely upon Wikipedia. Frequently its 'facts' are nothing more than opinions or unsubstantiated reports. Take everything with a pinch of salt and cross-reference with reliable and well-sourced points of information.

Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.