Snake In The Grass: History
In 1994, Alan Ayckbourn wrote his first supernatural play Haunting Julia, a piece for three male actors which focussed on the damage parents unwittingly do to their children and the nature of genius.Subsequent to that, Alan was asked on a number of occasions whether he would ever consider writing a companion piece with an all female cast. The idea eventually triggered something for Alan as, in 2001, he began writing another supernatural play which moved some of Haunting Julia's ideas into much darker territory.
Behind The Scenes: Grass Widow
In correspondence prior to writing Snake In The Grass, Alan Ayckbourn reveals he originally had a different idea for the title. His original idea was Grass Widow, a relatively obscure term for a woman who is either divorced or separated from her husband. He would later alter the title to Snake In The Grass, which reflects a line in Joking Apart - the play it was originally produced in repertory with.
In correspondence prior to writing Snake In The Grass, Alan Ayckbourn reveals he originally had a different idea for the title. His original idea was Grass Widow, a relatively obscure term for a woman who is either divorced or separated from her husband. He would later alter the title to Snake In The Grass, which reflects a line in Joking Apart - the play it was originally produced in repertory with.
Although the set is the same, Alan exploits it in completely different ways in both plays. In Joking Apart, we see the garden at different times of the year during different celebrations. For Snake In The Grass, the action steadily progresses from day to night; the play starts in the sunlight and ends deep in the night. It was regarded as particularly challenging to light for its original production in-the-round and saw the first use of radio controlled lighting for the storm lanterns, which are both static as well a being handled by the characters.
Just as Haunting Julia remains Alan's own all male cast, so Snake In The Grass is his only all female cast. The plays are related in other ways too, notably a theme of fathers haunting their daughters. In Haunting Julia, it is Julia’s father Joe who is haunting his dead daughter Julia. In Snake In The Grass, the sisters Miriam and Annabel are haunted by their dead father, both in memory and possibly in a supernatural sense of the term.
Behind The Scenes: Cinematic Influence
Alan Ayckbourn has noted on a number of occasions that Snake In The Grass is undoubtedly inspired by his love of the 1955 French film, Les Diaboliques. The plot of Snake In The Grass undoubtedly reflects the thriller / horror film which centres on a woman and her husband's mistress, who conspire to murder the husband. After he is 'drowned' by the women, his body disappears and strange occurrences begin to occur which lead to the wife's death. It is eventually revealed this has all been planned and was a plot between the husband and his lover to kill the wife.
Alan Ayckbourn has noted on a number of occasions that Snake In The Grass is undoubtedly inspired by his love of the 1955 French film, Les Diaboliques. The plot of Snake In The Grass undoubtedly reflects the thriller / horror film which centres on a woman and her husband's mistress, who conspire to murder the husband. After he is 'drowned' by the women, his body disappears and strange occurrences begin to occur which lead to the wife's death. It is eventually revealed this has all been planned and was a plot between the husband and his lover to kill the wife.
The play also throws up the question of victim’s guilt: Annabel articulates the beliefs that we only truly hurt the people we love and that, arguably, the reason for someone we love hurting us may be our own fault and that abusive love is better than no love. Contentious as these issues are, they illustrate Alan is still more than willing to tackle controversial and provocative contemporary issues four decades after he began writing. It also highlights Alan exploring a familiar theme, the lack of communication between people, but in a disturbing and some might say taboo manner.
Although both Snake In The Grass and Haunting Julia are both considered supernatural stories, at their hearts they are less about the immaterial, and more the material. They consider the often terrible things we do to those we love, be it by not being able to cope with or understanding our children in Haunting Julia or the altogether more disturbing concept of abusing them in Snake In The Grass.
Behind The Scenes: Not A Trilogy
Snake In The Grass is occasionally inaccurately referred to as part of the non-existent Things That Go Bump trilogy; Alan Ayckbourn has never referred to Haunting Julia, Snake In The Grass and Life & Beth as the Things That Go Bump trilogy and does not consider these three plays to be a trilogy. Contrary to what websites such as Wikipedia might inaccurately report, there is no such thing as Alan Ayckbourn's Things That Go Bump trilogy.
Snake In The Grass is occasionally inaccurately referred to as part of the non-existent Things That Go Bump trilogy; Alan Ayckbourn has never referred to Haunting Julia, Snake In The Grass and Life & Beth as the Things That Go Bump trilogy and does not consider these three plays to be a trilogy. Contrary to what websites such as Wikipedia might inaccurately report, there is no such thing as Alan Ayckbourn's Things That Go Bump trilogy.
At which point, the play should have transferred to the West End. Correspondence in The Alan Ayckbourn Archive shows that his regular London producer, Michael Codron was one of the first people to read the play and was extremely interested in taking it straight into the West End from Scarborough. Unfortunately, in the interim, Alan's Damsels In Distress trilogy transferred to the West End, the treatment of which led Alan to sever ties with Codron and put a moratorium on West End productions of his new work. Practically guaranteed a West End production, Snake In The Grass would have to wait another 10 years before reaching London.
A chance to see Snake In The Grass and Haunting Julia together was offered in summer 2008 for Alan Ayckbourn's final summer season as Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, when they were presented alongside a new supernatural drama Life & Beth. Alan Ayckbourn again directed the 2008 revival of the play which received strong reviews.
The professional London premiere of Snake In The Grass did not take place until 14 February 2011, when it was staged at The Print Room with a well-received production directed by Lucy Bailey and starring Susan Wooldridge, Sarah Woodward and Mossie Smith.
The play was published by Samuel French in 2004 and Faber in 2011 (both of which feature a printing error, the correction for which can be found on the Publication Corrections page) and released for both professional and amateur performance. The play has proved especially popular on the amateur circuit and in recent years has also proved to be popular internationally with productions of the play across the globe.
Article by Simon Murgatroyd. Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without permission of the copyright holder.