Alan Ayckbourn: Short Biography
This is the officially approved short biography for Alan Ayckbourn - updated for 2025 - which is used in programmes and other publications. It is available to reproduce for free providing this website is credited.Alan Ayckbourn
Playwright & Director
A playwright and theatre director, Alan has written numerous plays - his 90th, Show & Tell, premiered here in 2024 to acclaim.
His plays have been regularly revived around the world over the past six decades and won countless awards. Major success include Relatively Speaking, How the Other Half Loves, The Norman Conquests, Season’s Greetings, Absurd Person Singular, Way Upstream, A Chorus of Disapproval, House & Garden and Woman in Mind.
He has been associated with this company since 1957 where, under the guidance of Stephen Joseph, he made his writing and directing debuts. In 1972 he was appointed the company’s Artistic Director and held the role for 37 years. In 2018 he was appointed Director Emeritus of the SJT.
His work has been frequently adapted for film, television and radio - most notably by the late French cinema auteur, Alain Resnais.
More than 75 of his plays have been published and are currently in print alongside his best-selling guide to writing and directing, The Crafty Art of Playmaking, first published in 2002. His first 'novel', The Divide, was published in 2019.
Inducted into American Theatre's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, he became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards. He was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.
Source: Alan Ayckbourn's official website www.alanayckbourn.net.
Copyright: Haydonning Ltd.