Ayckbourn Chronology: 2025
Notable Events
During 2025, Alan Ayckbourn…○ premiered his 91st play, Earth Angel, at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
○ received the ABTT Stephen Joseph Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to theatre-in-the-roiund and British theatre.
○ Saw a major West End revival of Woman in Mind open at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring Sheridan Smith, during the play's 40th anniversary.
○ saw the 60th anniversary of his play Relatively Speaking celebrated in a weekend at the Stephen Joseph Theatre - Actors, Audience and Ayckbourn - which included a talk by his Archivist Simon Murgatroyd and a rehearsed reading of the play.
○ saw A Theatrical Revolution by Simon Murgatroyd published with a look at the inaugural year of Theatre of the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, in 1955.
Quotes
“I once said that, at the age I am, my view has to be either backwards or forwards, but very rarely do I stare straight out of the window."(charleshutchpress.co.uk, September 2025)
“All you have to do as a practitioner of theatre is to pull back to the basics. I was brought up theatrically by the most brilliant teacher I met. I was fortunate enough to meet Stephen Joseph, who said, essentially, theatre is those two elements, the actor and the audience, and that is what theatre is about. And the rest of you guys, you designers and you writers and you directors - a growing number of practitioners now, the lighting designer and the soundscape designer and God knows what, the intimacy coach and all that business - you’re all redundant. The
audience doesn’t give a stuff about you. They are only interested in what they see on stage.”
(Yorkshire Post, September 2025)
World Premieres
○ Earth Angel16 September, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Notable Ayckbourn Productions
○ Woman in Mind (West End)9 December, Duke of York's Theatre
○ Just Between Ourselves (Tour)
London Classic Theatre
○ Snake in the Grass (revival)
15 September, Theatr Clywd / Bolton Octagon co-production
○ Relatively Speaking (rehearsed reading)
28 September, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Professional Directing
○ Earth AngelStephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Awards & Honours
○ ABTT Stephen Joseph Lifetime Achievement Award
Alan Ayckbourn (© Bronwen Sharp)
All research for this page by Simon Murgatroyd and copyright of Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without permission of the copyright holder.