Alan Ayckbourn: Short Biography
This is the officially approved short biography for Alan Ayckbourn - updated for 2024 - 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, to date Alan has written 90 plays - Show & Tell will premiere this autumn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre where nearly all his plays are first staged.
His wide body of work, spanning 65 years, has won countless awards and been seen on stage and screen throughout the world. Significant works include Relatively Speaking, How The Other Half Loves, Absurd Person Singular, The Norman Conquests, Season's Greetings, A Chorus of Disapproval and Woman in Mind, many of which have been revived in recent years. More than 35 of his plays have been performed in the West End or at the National Theatre.
In New York, his regular visits with the SJT company performing his plays for the Brits off Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theatres received an enthusiastic reception and reviews and he has had a dozen plays produced on Broadway.
More than 75 of his plays have been published, the majority of which are still in print alongside his best-selling guide to writing and directing, The Crafty Art of Playmaking. His first 'novel', The Divide, was published in 2019.
Inducted into American Theatre's Hall of Fame, 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.