Alan Ayckbourn: Frequently Asked Questions - Playwriting
	This page contains FAQs concerning Alan Ayckbourn and his playwriting career. If there is a question not listed here which you feel should be listed, please contact: simon.murgatroyd@sjt.uk.com.
	1) Which acting role led Alan to write his first play? 2) How many plays has Alan Ayckbourn written? 3) Why has there been confusion about the number of plays? 4) What about Intimate Exchanges? 5) Why have the early plays never been published? 6) Which plays have not been published and are not available for production? 7) Alan has said he tried to destroy all his early plays, is this true? 8) What are the Grey Plays?
	1) Which acting role led Alan to write his first play?
	Alan wrote his first play after complaining about his acting roles to Stephen Joseph, who promptly challenged him to write a better one for himself. For many years it was stated that Alan’s role as Nicholas in Jon Van Druten’s Bell, Book And Candle was the role that drove Alan to complain. However, Paul Allen’s biography Grinning At The Edge conclusively proved this was impossible as Bell, Book And Candle was in the same season as Alan’s first play The Square Cat. Allen contends - and is most probably correct - the likely candidate is the role of Eric which Alan played in David Campton’s Ring Of Roses during Christmas 1958. As David Campton was a friend, Alan may have changed the 'inspirational' role during interviews so as not hurt Campton's feelings.
	2) How many plays has Alan Ayckbourn written?
	As of 2008, Alan has written 72 full-length plays. The most recent is Awaking Beauty, premiering in December 2008 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
	3) Why has there been confusion about the number of plays?
	For many years, the number of plays and the numbering of them was often inconsistent. This was largely due to Jeeves not being included in the list (presumably because it was a musical). Discrepancies have also cropped up over the years such as whether House & Garden were one or two plays (two) and whether some of the revues should be included (no). The list and numbering that now exists is considered definitive and the definitive play-list can be found by clicking here.
	4) What about Intimate Exchanges?
	Intimate Exchanges is classed as just one play; it does have eight named variations within it (confusingly though there are 16 variants in total). However as they all branch from a single source, they are counted as just one play.
	5) Why have the early plays never been published?
	Alan has frequently said that every writer has a period when they are learning their craft and that these plays represent that period.
	6) Which plays have not been published and are not available for production?
	The plays which have not been published are: The Square Cat, Love After All, Dad’s Tale, Standing Room Only, Christmas V Mastermind, The Sparrow, Jeeves, Making Tracks, The Musical Jigsaw Play and Virtual Reality. Several more recent plays have not yet been published, but are likely to be published in due course.
	7) Alan has said he tried to destroy all his early plays, is this true?
	This was probably said in jest as at least one copy of all of Alan Ayckbourn's plays is now known to exist. Alan chose not to keep copies of his early plays, which led to the difficulty in tracing several of the early plays. Between 2005 and 2007, The Bob Watson Archive managed to recover copies of all the previously thought lost scripts and now holds a complete collection of all of Alan's full-length plays.
	8) What are the Grey Plays?
	Alan Ayckbourn has written a number of plays which have been produced and performed, but which are not considered part of the official canon. Generally this is because the plays were written for a specific and unique event (An Evening With Palos for The Colin Blakely Memorial; Untitled Farce for the 50th anniversary of the Stephen Joseph Theatre) or because they were from Alan's earliest days as a writer and represent formative steps as a professional writer. Whilst all the plays have been produced in some forms, they have never been published and are not available for production. The Grey Plays are: Follow The Lover (one act, circa 1960); Double Hitch (one act, circa 1960); Dracula (one act, 1975); The Jubilee Show (revue, 1977); Backnumbers (revue, 1983); An Evening With PALOS (one act, 1987); Between The Lines (revue by Paul Todd incorporating Ayckbourn songs, 1992); Untitled Farce (one act, 2005). Full details can be found in the Plays section.