Suburban Strains

Suburban Strains is a 1980 musical by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn with music by Paul Todd. This was the first attempt Ayckbourn made at a musical since the ill-fated Jeeves! in 1975. It is about a teacher, Caroline, whose marriage to actor Kevin breaks down, only to find her new partner, doctor Matthew, even worse due to his control freakery, before making up with Kevin again.

Suburban Strains
Written by	Alan Ayckbourn
Characters	Caroline Kevin Matthew Various supporting roles
Date premiered	18 January 1980
Place premiered	Stephen Joseph Theatre (Westwood site), Scarborough
Original language	English
Subject	Unsatisfactory relationships
Setting	Various locations over a summer three years ago and winter today
Official site
Ayckbourn chronology
Taking Steps (1979) Season's Greetings (1980)

References

• Suburban Stains on official Ayckbourn site
• Allen, Paul (2004) A Pocket Guide to Alan Ayckbourn Plays Faber & Faber ISBN 0-571-21492-4