Mustafa Kirca explores the dark sides of Alan Ayckbourn's comedy by comparing the playwright's
characters with those of Chekhov's drama and drawing a parallelism in the character portrayal
of both artists. The significance of Ayckbourn's plays following Chekhov's footsteps
particularly lies in his vivid portrayal of characters from everyday life with psychological
depth. Kirca shows that the fine mix of comedy and tragedy in Ayckbourn's drama is conveyed
through his realistic characterization contrary to the farcical style of his plays. This kind
of character portrayal in Ayckbourn's plays brings him very close to Chekhov and establishes
the known equilibrium between comedy and tragedy in his theatre. The study covers Ayckbourn's
Absent Friends Just Between Ourselves Joking Apart Season's Greetings Woman in Mind A
Small Family Business and Henceforward. From Chekhov's drama The Seagull Uncle Vanya The
Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard are included to define the general Chekhovian character
traits. The book is especially interesting for teachers students and for general readers who
are interested in modern 'human comedies'.
