Life of Riley (play)

Life of Riley is a 2010 play by Alan Ayckbourn. It was first performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.^[1]

Life of Riley
Written by	Alan Ayckbourn
Characters	Kathryn Colin Simeon Tamsin Jack Monica
Date premiered	21 September 2010
Place premiered	Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Original language	English
Subject	Terminal illness, relationships
Genre	Comedy
Official site
Ayckbourn chronology
My Wonderful Day (2009) Neighbourhood Watch (2011)

Structure

It is set over a period over the seven months that a man called George Riley is diagnosed with a terminal illness, although George Riley does not appear in the play himself and is only ever referred to by the six onstage characters.

This play is the only Ayckbourn play to directly reference another Ayckbourn play (Relatively Speaking) within the story.^[2]

Characters

• George Riley (unseen)
• Colin
• Kathryn
• Jack
• Tamsin
• Monica - Riley's ex-wife
• Simeon
• Small boy (unseen)
• Teenage daughter (unseen)
• Basil Bender (unseen) ^[3]

Adaptation into film

The play was filmed by the French director Alain Resnais, as Aimer, boire et chanter (2014).^[4]