Push-A-Playwright

Push-A-Playwright is the new craze that’s sweeping the nation.

It’s a game which was devised by the West End Whingers quite some time ago but we haven’t got around to playing it yet.

It’s a bit like happy-slapping except that it’s funny.

Basically, it works like this: if you see a playwright, you push him or her over. The older and more frail the playwright, the more points you get. And that’s it. The one with the most points is the winner.

We are a bit disgruntled that our idea has been stolen by Kevin Spacey before we got a chance to really get going: Mr Spacey pushed the 69 year-old Alan Ayckbourn over the other day at the end of The Norman Conquests as reported by Michael Coveney:

Kevin Spacey loves Alan Ayckbourn to death, and nearly proved it when an over-zealous bear hug at the end of The Norman Conquests trilogy sent Britain’s most successful living playwright flying and gasping for air while flat on his back on the stage.

He had been led to this undignified nemesis by Spacey himself and accorded a heartfelt standing ovation which was only marred by the unexpected tumble into the front stalls, customers aghast, spectacles shooting in all directions.

It seems that Mr Ayckbourn saw the funny side which has provided the Whingers with much encouragement and they intend to play with zeal and gusto.

• However, Phil is trying to persuade Andrew that Harold Pinter is far too frail to take part in the game, but after No Man’s Land he’s taking some convincing and he desperately wants those points.
• Phil is going to have a go at Polly Stenham which won’t earn him many points but he claims it’s how you play the game that’s important (the same claim he makes when losing at Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Canasta etc etc).
• We can only assume that Betsy will be gunning for Neil LaBute.

If you want to join in, please do. And don’t forget to send us a photo.