The Dud Avocado is a one woman solo adaptation of American author, Elaine Dundy’s, best-selling, 1958 comic novel. Praised at the time by the likes of Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway and even Groucho Marx, the novel tells of the madcap adventures of 21 year old Sally Jay Gorce who runs into all sorts of eccentric characters on a planned two year trip to France.

The stage adaptation is currently being submitted to theatres for a season in 2026. Permission for staging has kindly been granted by Elaine Dundy’s daughter, Tracy Tynan and her half-brother, Matthew Tynan.

The novel itself was re-released only a few years ago. Please see The Guardian article below about The Dud Avocado and the life of Elaine Dundy who was also a well-known biographer and the wife of notorious English theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/26/dud-avocado-elaine-dundy-rereading