The University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts will produce Absurd Person Singular, a ferociously funny play by the master of British comedy, Alan Ayckbourn, as its next Mainstage production. The production will premiere at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the David Thayer Theatre of the UI Theatre Building, 200 N. Riverside Drive.

Additional performances will be held at 8 p.m. March 7-8 and 12-15, and at 2 p.m. March 9. Eric Forsythe, professor and head of directing in the Department of Theatre Arts, will direct the play.

Ayckbourn’s hysterical farce follows three couples, in three kitchens, on three successive Christmas Eves. Relationships change, fortunes soar and then dive, and the social kaleidoscope gets shaken up. The Absurd universe also includes an off-stage couple whose jokes are really bad, some of the most ingenious failed suicide attempts ever devised, and lots of gin.

Ayckbourn is one of Britain’s most prolific and popular playwrights. His work includes nearly 80 full-length plays written between 1959 and 2014, as well as 11 musical revues, four one-acts, a number of plays for children, four adaptations, a screenplay, some poetry, a book, and hundreds of songs. He has won countless awards, including most notably the Olivier, two Tony Awards, Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk, a knighthood, and a CBE.

Tickets for Absurd Person Singular are $17 ($12 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for college students and youth, and $5 for UI students with valid ID) and are available through the Hancher Box Office at 319-335-1160 or 800-426-2437 or online by visiting www.hancher.uiowa.edu/tickets.

The Department of Theatre Arts is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact the Hancher Box Office in advance at 319-335-1158.