|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Alan Ayckbourn: Frequently Asked Questions - Popularity | ||
| This page contains FAQs concerning the popularity of Alan Ayckbourn's plays. If there is a question not listed here which you feel should be listed, please contact: simon.murgatroyd@sjt.uk.com. | ||
|
|
||
|
1) Alan Ayckbourn
is often quoted as being the second most performed playwright after
Shakespeare. Is this true and where did it originate? 2) It is frequently quoted that an Ayckbourn play is being performed somewhere every day of the year. Is this possible? 3) Alan is quoted as being one of the most successful playwrights in London's West End, is this true? |
||
| 1) Alan Ayckbourn is often quoted as being the second most performed playwright after Shakespeare. Is this true and where did it originate? | ||
|
This is a quote that frequently appears about Alan Ayckbourn but without any qualification or source. Truth be told, it’s something that is practically impossible to verify but its origins can at least be traced. Undoubtedly Alan is one of the most frequently performed playwrights in England (particularly if you include both amateur and professional productions) and is substantially performed in Europe and to a lesser degree in America. His plays have been translated into more than 30 languages and there are productions of his work constantly taking place around the globe – but no organisation keeps track of all professional and amateur productions around the world; indeed no organisation keeps track of this information even in England. Although it is impossible to definitively state where the quote originated from, it is highly likely it goes back to a press release issued by the British Arts Council in 2 November 1983. This states: "Plays by Alan Ayckbourn have been attracting larger audiences in the regional theatres than those of Shakespeare." This was the first such report to be published by the Arts Council (click here to see the press release) and it showed between 1981 and 1983, there were 1034 professional productions of Alan's work in the UK playing to 327,000 people (in comparison there were 1060 professional Shakespearean productions performed to 318,000 people). Subsequent Cultural Trend reports during the 1980s and 1990s would see Alan fluctuate between first and third places in the annual performed playwright rankings. These statistics did not include productions in the commercial West End theatres or amateur productions. In the former case, this would have undoubtedly strengthened Alan's position as between 1970 and 2000, there was at least one and as many as five professional Ayckbourn productions in London every year (see question 3 below). With regard to the latter, Alan has long been one of the most performed authors by amateur groups in the UK according to the UK's leading play publishers Samuel French Ltd. The specific quote seem likely to have originated circa 1990 when Alan's public profile was arguable at its peak and the Arts Council's Cultural Trends report stated he was the most performed playwright in the UK after Shakespeare. This was reported extensively in the print media. |
||
| 2) It is frequently quoted that an Ayckbourn play is being performed somewhere every day of the year. Is this possible? | ||
| Actually this is far easier than one imagines and could quite easily apply to any popular playwright. To use the example of 2007: during that year there were four major UK tours of his work of If I Were You, Bedroom Farce, How The Other Half Loves and By Jeeves. Add to this the two major productions of Alan's plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre (a month each), the West End production of Absurd Person Singular (throughout December) and you practically have a full year covered before you begin to include any other professional productions of Alan's plays in the UK or any Amateur productions (as the Productions pages show, there is rarely a time when an Ayckbourn play of some description is not being performed in the UK). If this were to then include the many productions of Alan's taking place around the globe, then it becomes obvious it is not terribly difficult for a popular playwright such as Alan Ayckbourn to reach the level where one of their plays is performed somewhere in the world everyday. | ||
| 3) Alan is quoted as being one of the most successful playwrights in London's West End, is this true? | ||
|
Again, there are no hard and fast statistics
to either prove or disprove this statement. However, what can demonstrably
proved is Alan had an extraordinary presence in the commercial West End for
30 years with 39 plays premiered in either the West End or the National
Theatre. Between 1970 and 2000, there was at least one and as many as five
Ayckbourn plays being performed in London's West End or National Theatre every year (this does
not include London fringe, subsidised or rep theatres). This is a unique
achievement for any British playwright particularly as it is not due to the
success of one play (such as Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap or Susan Hill's
The Woman In Black) but more than 30 different plays produced during that
period. The table below illustrates this:
Ayckbourn plays in West End Theatre (1970 -
2000) Of course, this record had to come to a close and this took place in 2003 when Alan Ayckbourn announced a moratorium on productions of his work in commercial West End theatres following the London productions of Damsels In Distress and Bedroom Farce. This moratorium came to a close in late 2007 with Bill Kenwright's production of Absurd Person Singular at the Garrick Theatre, London. |
||