Alan Ayckbourn's Liza Doolittle

Alan Ayckboum's Liza Doolittle BERNARD F. DUKORE LIONEL Now, come on. You do it properly. How do you do? SYLVIE How do you do? ] feel like that My Fair Lady.I This passage occurs in "A Self-Improving Woman," the title of one of four possible third scenes (every scene has a title) in Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges, which consists of eight full-length plays. Since each play has two possible endings, contained in different concluding scenes, there are, in effect, sixteen plays. To see all of Intimate Exchanges requires sixteen evenings andlor matin~es at the theatre.2 The published text fills two volumes. Intimate Exchanges continues along lines Ayckbourn had explored in Sisterly Feelings, which employs alternative scenes in the center, the flip of a coin during performance determining which scene is played. In both works, each alternative creates a different set ofcircumstances that eventually requires another choice. A more complex comedy, Intimate Exchanges not only progresses by means that are not arbitrary, but the decisions in the later play, which more closely derive from character, are more numerous than those in the earlier, and each decision results in alternatives with greater ramifications than the previous alternatives. At first, in a scene titled "How It Began," which is set in a garden, the choice is what non-smokers or non-former smokers might consider minor. Should Celia Teasdale, who is trying to cut down smoking, succumb to the temptation of having her first cigarette of the day before 6:00 p.m.? Ifshe resists, she tries to work off her nervous energy in the garden shed and does not hear the doorbell. If she fails to resist, she remains and hears it. The alternatives precipitate different chains of events which result in different scenes that engender different plays: (she does not smoke) "A Visit from a Friend" BERNARD F. DUKORE (she smokes) "A Gardener Calls" The scene on the left leads to sequences that contain different characters or that emphasize persons unrelated to this essay's subject. In the event that Celia smokes and hears the bell, she meets the gardener, Lionel Hepplewick, in "A Gardener Calls." Afterwards, the bedazzled Lionel considers whether to continue romancing Sylvie Bell, a part-time housecleaner for the Teasdales, or to attempt romancing the lady of the house. Although Celia's marital difficulties increase the possibility that she will respond favorably to a romantic overture, they by no means ensure her acquiescence. What her husband Toby says and does influences her decision, as do the circumstances in which the would-be lover (Lionel or another) makes his advance. The lover too must decide whether, and if so when, to do this. For both parties, the readiness as well as the ripeness determines all. While Lionel contemplates whether to pursue Celia, Sylvie demands that he decide immediately if they will see each other on Friday. Two alternatives emerge: (he will not see her) "A Gardener in Love" (he will see her) "The Self-Improving Woman" If his decision is negative, their involvement with each other ends and the resultant action has no bearing on the subject of this essay. If he elects to see her, they agree to have an exclusive relationship with each other. Because the decision is his, he is the partner who controls that relationship. "I got plans for you," he tells her as he leaves. "What plans?" she wonders, moving toward the garbage cans (pp. 13- 14) - a destination that visually suggests what her status might be should she form a permanent alliance with Lionel. In "The Self-Improving Woman," some ofLionel's plans for SyIvie emerge. After he admires Celia's smart attire and bearing, Sylvie arrives, in the midst of housework, carrying a bag ofrubbish that apparently consists ofempty whisky bottles, the result of yet another debauch by Toby Teasdale the night before. In appearance, she is the antithesis of Celia. With comic ineptitude, the insecure Sylvie tries to persuade Lionel to marry her. Referring to their lovemaking the night before, she asks: Ayckboum's Liza Doolittle 427 It were good though, wasn't it? Be great when we get our own bed. OUf own...