FANS of Alan Ayckbourn’s plays are being offered the chance to see one of his more unusual and less-performed productions.

House & Garden, which are being staged by the Wallingford-based Sinodun Players, are a diptych — or linked pair — of plays penned by the master playwright and first performed in 1999.

They were designed to be staged simultaneously by the same cast on adjacent stages, with members of the cast flowing between the two auditoria. The setting for House is a drawing room, while Garden is played out in the grounds of a large country house.

Although they are linked, each play tells a self-contained story, meaning they can be seen in either order without affecting the theatre-goer’s enjoyment of Ayckbourn’s exploration of the mainly bittersweet relationships between the characters. Directed by Marilyn Johnstone and Joel Webster, House & Garden is the story of a big day for businessman Teddy Platt, played by Pete Smithson. He’s hosting a luncheon party and a garden fete, breaking up with his mistress and near neighbour Joanna Mace (Ellen Phelips), and even being urged to keep up the family’s tradition of standing for Parliament.

And, if all that is not enough for Teddy, he also has to contend with flying dinner plates, collapsing tents and falling for someone whose language he cannot speak or understand in the shape of French film actress Lucille Cadeau, played by Sarah Enticknap.

Faced with a mute wife, Trish (Amanda Potter), a distressed daughter, Sally (Annabelle Buckland) and a polygamous gardener, Warn (Kevin Harvey), among other characters, he’s just trying to make sense of it all.

Director Marilyn said: “When I mentioned to my friend, Martin Wheatley, that I was looking for a challenge, he suggested House & Garden and offered to oversee the very, very complicated technical side of things. I then passed this idea on to Joel Webster, with whom I shared many a funny moment on stage during the last pantomime, with the suggestion that he might like to direct Garden while I directed House.

“Many months later and, thankfully, still friends with both of them — just — we are almost ready. We have a fantastic cast and an excellent backstage team, so what could possibly go wrong?

“We hope that our audiences appreciate and enjoy the complexity of the piece and have a thoroughly good time visiting our House & Garden.”

The other members of the cast are: Giles Mace (Richard Evans); Jake Mace (Matthew Griffin); Gavin Ryng-Mayne (Kevin Goodfellow); Barry Love (Joel Webster), Lindy (Lauren Whitfield); Fran Briggs (Rebecca Cleverley); Izzie Truce (Liz Hollis) and Pearl Truce (Sam Field).

House & Garden are being performed in the Studio (for Garden) and the Club Room (for House) at the Corn Exchange, Wallingford, at 7.45 pm from Wednesday to Saturday, July 9 to 12, and from Wednesday to Saturday, July 16 to 19. The upstairs Club Room has no wheelchair access. Tickets are £15 for both plays or £10 for a single play and are available on 01491 825000 or online at www.CornExchange.org.uk