ALAN AYCKBOURN marks his 75th birthday year with the world premiere of his 78th play at Stephen Joseph Theatre next week.

Roundelay is the latest offering from the playwright, which runs at the Scarborough theatre from September 4 to October 4.

It is a collection of five short plays – The Judge, The Novelist, The Politician, The Star, The Agent – intended to be seen in random order on any given day.

The sequence will be decided by a member of the audience up to 30 minutes before each show by drawing coloured balls from a hat in the Stephen Joseph Theatre Bar.

Alan said: “The over-riding theme is memory – what we choose to remember and to forget, false memories, personal histories we distort, the pasts we invent, memories that age takes away from us, long-forgotten memories which time restores to us, memories of the same events the details of which no two people ever quite share.

“The plays are all related. Some are sequels to others which turn out to be preludes to others.

“There are 120 possibilities as to the order in which they can be performed. Each performance will unfold differently in this unique adventure in live theatre. Which order will you see? Nobody knows for certain, least of all us.”

The theatre welcomes cast members Brooke Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in EastEnders, and Sophie Roberts, previously seen in Macbeth at Sheffield Crucible and Taking Sides at Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End. Both make their debut with the company.

They are joined by actors Richard Stacey and Russell Dixon fresh from the 2013/14 Ayckbourn Ensemble national and New York tour where they appeared in Arrivals & Departures and Time Of My Life.

Roundelay is the second Ayckbourn production of the 2014 season at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. He has directed a musical adaptation of his 1998 play The Boy Who Fell Into A Book, which premiered last month and runs until Sunday.

Tickets, priced from £10 to £24.50, are available from the box office on 01723 370541 or online at sjt.uk.com

Following its premiere in Scarborough, the production will go on national tour to venues, including the New Vic Theatre, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, The Old Laundry Theatre, in Bowness-on-Windermere and Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.