Three Plays: Absurd Person Singular, Absent Friends, Bedroom Farce Book

Three Plays is a terrific read. Alan Ayckbourn loves language, so it pays off for logophiles who won't necessarily see the pieces in stage production. Gratifying for both readers and small theatre companies is the use of minimal set changes or fixed sets for all the pieces. My own taste for melodrama and pathos made 'Absent Friends' a personal favorite; 'Bedroom Farce' is definitely / appropriately a farce (though definitely has enough heft and thought to elevate it from the Benny Hill show class). All of the pieces are English from early 1970s, but I did not find them dated, nor uniquely suited to UK sensibilities -- taut, searing satire of social climbing, 'keeping up appearances,' awkwardness in social norms and behavior. Curb Your Enthusiasm / Larry David aficionados will particularly enjoy these.