Henceforward...

by Alan Ayckbourn

England's comic master is in a black comic mode in this West End hit about our fascination with technology. It is sometime quite soon in a steel shuttered, slovenly flat in a no go area of North London where punks rule deserted streets. Here, a lonely composer sits surrounded by high tech equipment. His only company is a robot nanny, and she's on the blink. He desperately wants to reclaim his teenage daughter and enlists an out of work actress to implement a cunning plan he's evolved to impress his estranged wife and a wired for sound child welfare officer. When things don't work out, Jerome has to improvise... It's amazing what can be done with a few micro chips and a screwdriver!

Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction, British Literature, Audiobook, Theatre, 20th Century

152 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1987

About the author

Sir Alan Ayckbourn is a popular and prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit Relatively Speaking opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967. Major successes include Absurd Person Singular (1975), The Norman Conquests trilogy (1973), Bedroom Farce (1975), Just Between Ourselves (1976), A Chorus of Disapproval (1984), Woman in Mind (1985), A Small Family Business (1987), Man Of The Moment (1988), House & Garden (1999) and Private Fears in Public Places (2004). His plays have won numerous awards, including seven London Evening Standard Awards. They have been translated into over 35 languages and are performed on stage and television throughout the world. Ten of his plays have been staged on Broadway, attracting two Tony nominations, and one Tony award.

Reviews

[Ross Williamson]

yeah i can do without transphobia thanks again for that britain

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I loved the robot and the defiant misgendered-by-EVERYONE-including-the-stage-directions-but-not-himself trans boy who transcends what the author (I think? given the misgendering stage directions?) meant for him to be. I have already written the fanfic in my head where they escape together into the sunset and also started writing the one where all kids get their own guardian robots to protect them from any and all malfeasant adults.

I had mixed, powerfully complex, but overall very negative feelings about the other characters in the play especially the emotionally abusive jerk at its center, and the transphobic language and slurs and wrong-pronouning (that is very unsurprising for 1988 but it's still terrible) and the gender warfare and ugh everything. Except the robot and the angry messed up trans kid. they were both charming.

Also I kind of enjoyed the experience of what someone who isn't a genre expert trying to write a sfnal future in 1988 was like.

Also I really liked the people who I read the play with, both in general and tonight particularly, and I thought everyone acted well in it and got through the awful parts with verve and did their best with things and once one has accidentally embarked on such a thing, i'd really rather finish it than not.

CN: besides that mentioned above, lots of weird dubconnish situations, surveillance, much dystopian violence off-stage but discussed, and also recording people without their consent and using the recordings for Art, ugh.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peculiar, surreal. Man meets female robot. Set in a strange dystopian future.

[Tom O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not particularly Alan Ayckbourn's fault that this has aged badly. Predicting future technological or social change is hard and he did as well or badly as many have done . It makes reading what, I think, isn't a strong play just a little harder though.

The main character is just so unlikeable that it unbalances the piece. He is whiney and manipulative, not to mention creepy and much as the play may acknowledge that in the denouement, it doesn't make spending time in his company any less trying.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two themes within this play which are of particular interest. One is civil disorder in the London area and the second is science fiction. Ayckbourn returns to the former at least once and the latter several times. There are, naturally, strong female roles and these require to be well portrayed.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC radio 3:
It's sometime in the near future. Composer Jerome has been suffering a creative block. His only company is his beloved music, the ultra-modern recording devices that surround him, and a malfunctioning humanoid robot, NAN 300F.

[Thalia Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst I don’t think this is aged particularly well in some regards - viewing women as whole human beings rather than being centred on the male presences or reproductive system in their lives (wife/mother), and of course the situation with Geain self-describing as a man and being misgendered, I do think there’s complexities to perceiving these things one-mindedly.

Firstly, having been written by a man, there is of course the absolute insanity that Jerome would be attractive to multiple women (2) and 1 of them twice… I think that smacks of an entrenched sexist male perspective, but I read books which were written last year that have the same criticisms so for the 80s it’s hardly shocking, just a bit annoying.

The core problem I’m reading in reviews is the “transphobia” — I’ll preface with the fact that I’m not trans so not speaking for anyone here and could well be missing things. What seems problematic to me is that there seems to be a perspective that a group of women are trying to be men for power - portrayed as stepping over their social boundaries, kind of seeming like it’s making fun of women who are pushing for more equal rights; this is inherently a sexist and transphobic thought process because it both disregards the discrimination that women have to overcome in society, entrenches their gender stereotypes and also promotes the notion that people only ‘want’ to be a gender for reasons of attainment (ie. women only want to be men so they can…idk, make equal money? Not get attacked at night? Idk what the suggestion is… but for men transphobia people say they only want to be women because then they can assault them more easily etc.). Now that’s not chill at all, but it’s more than normal for its era, and it’s not exactly out and out saying that, it’s more so (to me) that the concepts are rooted in this way of thinking.
Now to present a full context, there is also a group of people are called the ‘daughters of darkness’ (the other group is ‘sons of b*****s), and it’s left ambiguously/suggests that they aren’t all women, so it’s sort of either equally transphobic or maybe the gender isn’t really completely relevant to the group, and you just assume the gender of the group to be a part of it…
It really sounds like I’m making excuses but as I think about it I know what I mean, I’m just not sure if I’m articulating it well!

I also think Geain being perceived as undesirable as a child to his parents is most largely due to the fact he’s a hoodlum, but of course Ayckbourn employs the lazy trope of being a ‘manly woman’ to be repulsive to make this happen. It feels to me, that it is that way round though (repulsive and so, rather than, a trans man and so), because Geain is violent and verbally absuive.

I also think it’s interesting that Nan is the most close relationship that Geain has in the play (that we see), despite babying him and making him wear a nightdress etc. This is either transphobia (Geain isn’t really trans he’s just going through a patch mentality, so he does really want to wear dresses deep down), or it’s meant to show that neither of his parents made him feel loved and cared for unconditionally, so this robot that doesn’t really see him as anything other than a child is affirming for him such that he doesn’t want to let that go.

Whilst at the denouement there’s a tragic end for all involved, I would say that arguably Jerome is portrayed as repulsive - so obviously he is responsible for what happens to everyone else, and he chooses what he does which leads to it, so whilst he has his closure of what he’s been searching for in that one moment he never has continuity of life. I’m not as silly as to say he has the most tragic position at the end of the play, but he ruins everything he comes into contact with - even Nan, all because of ideas he either isn’t capable of comprehending, as is suggested by Zoe, or because he can’t be bothered to not centre himself completely in his life in a way that leaves no room for anything else. This seems most about Jerome’s flaws and ineptitude over everything else.

Whilst I don’t think this play is a complete criticism or prediction of creatives or creativity, as others have suggested, I do think it’s a warning of what happens when you allow yourself to forget about the meaning. His goal was for complete human connection ultimately, through music, and yet in order to pursue that he lost all of it in his own life. Like everything. Objectively he has one of the bleakest, most pitiful existences in literary history, going forward.

I don’t know the answers and I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts, especially trans people, but it’s definitely interesting.

Just to mention, I also think that it’s hypocritical to watch something like the ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and not engage with the transmisandry that’s rooted in misogyny in that film, but then use that exact same thing as an easy put down to avoid any nuance in this play…sometimes I think different media types mean people let things slide or call them out more loudly, just so they can feel comfortable in their morality but also look the other way in their entertainment.

[Jonathon Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you read something that so blatantly reduces women to sycophantic tools for men's use and disposal, I often wonder if the author intended it as an elaborate, intentional, ironic commentary, or if he really does just not have an awareness of another person's experiences. An (awareness of an) experience outside his own.

I wrote that last paragraph after Act 1, before any of the increased misogyny and transphobia of the second act. Woof. I went in blind without knowledge of the trans child, and the authors "opinion" in the stage directions is pretty disgusting. I did laugh out loud at the seperate portable phone, answering machine, and GPS, though.

Definitely a certain version of the creative process - male, supported by men, hindered and fed by the women around him. Simultaneously ahead of its time and so obviously of it. The futures we imagine reflect and are shackled by the presents they are born from.

[Crash Solo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a sucker for plays with sci-fi elements, and I like comedy, so this one seemed like an easy win. There’s some good comedy with the guy being so oblivious to how his actions and ideas would upset the people close to him. Why would anyone get upset about being secretly recorded, if it’s for art? But then [spoiler alert] his child Geain (pronounced Jane) shows up, no longer a little girl, now wanting to be seen as a teenage boy, and his oblivious parents use him as a pawn in their own relationship arguments. While that scenario has plenty of potential, most of the humor here falls flat and comes off as transphobic. I guess it was written in 1988, and the world has come a long way since then, but I think this play works better as a time capsule and reminder of what passed for humor back in the day than as anything that should be produced today. Should I read any more Alan Aykbourn? Maybe I’ll give him a pass in favor of some other playwrights.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henceforward's largest flaw is a lack of focus. It grapples with several thought-provoking concepts, each of which could form the basis of an entire play on its own. However, because they're all put together in a single story, I got the sense that some of them were unable to reach their potential by culminating into a satisfying conclusion. Still though, the concepts are incredibly captivating and the characters used to convey them are fascinating to follow making this a pretty great play. I'm definitely adding it to my list of plays I want to direct.

[Turtleback · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this play was fairly well done. I listened to a audio performance which probably goes over rather better than a read of this. I didn't think it suffered as poorly from the passage of time and advances in technology as some other reviews have suggested. In fact some of the technology guesses made the read [listen] all the more hilarious. I give it 3 stars.

[Anton Segers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een ‘futuristische’ Ayckbourn, met een satire op een wereld van robots, onveiligheid, privacy- en genderissues…
Uiteindelijk blijkt er op het gebied van de liefde helaas niet veel geëvolueerd en blijkt het toch weer een vrij klassieke Ayckbourn, met grappige momenten maar ook wat ongeloofwaardige plotmomenten…

[Susan Rigetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever read. poor geain, I wish the play had ended with nan saving him — that would have at least redeemed it somewhat.

editing to add a trigger warning because I’m still so disturbed by this: extremely disturbing and awful transphobia, misogyny.

[anjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

read w/ adithi

[begemot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of using such a basic robot to stand in for a girlfriend was of course not realistic at all. The character of Gerome was so unlikeable, that the declaration of love from Corrina(?) and her desire to get back with him came off as ridiculous rather than romantic. And the fact that the man “prioritizes” his creative process or is incapable of loving another person is actually secondary here. He’s a misogynistic pig, who literally makes this robot into his ex-wife’s image, so that he can berate her as she wanders around the place, running into things, breaking them, making messes, and generally being useless. And the author describes this not as a reprehensible behaviour, but as “every husband’s dream about his first (ex?) wife”. So yeah…

The acting was good, but I found quite a few places in the recording where the words were “mumbled” and it was next to impossible to figure out what was being said.

I wish they didn’t include an interview with the author at the end. His life story just sounded charmed to me (obviously, I am being biased and likely very unfair). The guy was in a fancy school (I think) that took him touring through Europe and North America for theatre productions. He later “inherited” some theatre from his mentor and became the artistic director, ensuring his own plays were always going to be produced, etc, etc. And with a bunch of awards and the fame, he doesn’t get “men that replace ashtrays” telling him how to improve his work. There’s just no way for him to come off well here, even though he seems to try to stay aware of his privileges. And generally, my experience has been, that hearing from the author about their work is usually detrimental to the appreciation of it. For instance, the fact that he originally had “hate” as the major theme of Gerome’s final creation, which he just swapped out with “love” after being told his play was too depressing, took away from the meaning I was attributing to the play in general and Gerome’s motivation in particular. And it just sort of “cheapens” the whole work.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange but good Ayckbourn play set in the near future.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play seems amusing but pointless until you give it a moment of thought, then you see the point but in that moment you get the whole point. There is nothing else to get.