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Timeline

The Timeline offers a chronological view of significant events in the history of the play Absent Friends; it only lists major productions and does not include the vast majority of the many professional and amateur productions of the play.

17 June 1974: World premiere of Absent Friends at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, directed by Alan Ayckbourn.

28 September 1974: Absent Friends closes at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, having had its run extended by a week due to its popularity.

30 June 1975: Absent Friends, directed by Eric Thompson, opens at the Brighton Theatre Royal for two weeks prior to a week at the Theatre Royal, Norwich, before transferring to the West End.

23 July 1975: London premiere of Absent Friends at the Garrick Theatre, London, directed by Eric Thompson.

1975: Samuel French publishes the acting edition of Absent Friends.

2 April 1976: North American premiere of Absent Friends at the Long Wharf Theater, New Haven, directed by Eric Thompson.

24 April 1976: Absent Friends closes at the Garrick Theatre, London.

May 1977: First UK provincial tour of Absent Friends is launched.

1977: Radio adaptation of Absent Friends premiered on BBC World Service, directed by Dickon Reed. Produced without the permission of Alan Ayckbourn and running less than an hour, this is later withdrawn from future broadcast.

1977: Chatto & Windus publish Absent Friends in the mass market hardback edition Three Plays.

11 July 1977: North American revival of Absent Friends, directed by Eric Thompson, at the Eisenhower Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington. It closes on 13 August 1977 and an intended transfer to New York never takes place.

16 March 1982: Premiere of Absent Friends at the Alley Theatre, Houston, directed by Alan Ayckbourn and featuring the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round company; Absent Friends was specifically produced for the venue during a two month residency alongside the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round's production of Way Upstream.

29 September 1985: Television adaptation of Absent Friends premiered in the UK on BBC2, directed by Michael Simpson.

29 January 1991: New York premiere of Absent Friends by the Manhattan Theatre Club at the City Centre Stage, directed by Lynne Meadow. Gillian Anderson makes her professional stage debut as Evelyn.

15 March 1991: Absent Friends Closes at the City Centre Stage, New York.

1991: Longman publishes a student edition of Absent Friends.

9 October 1997: Revival of Absent Friends at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, directed by Alan Ayckbourn.

1999: Pearson Education Limited publishes York Notes: Absent Friends for students studying the play.

9 February 2012: West End revival of Absent Friends at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

14 April 2012: West End revival of Absent Friends closes at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London.

21 September 2012: The BBC television adaptation of Absent Friends is screened in a cinema for the first time as part of the Ayckbourn Film Festival at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.

13 March 2027: Revival of Absent Friends opens at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, directed by Owen Horsley.

© Simon Murgatroyd