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 Ayckbourn has written numerous plays - his 91st, Earth Angel - recently premiered at his home venue, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.
His plays have been regularly revived around the world over the past six decades and won numerous 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; the latter soon to be revived in the West End in a major production starring Sheridan Smith.
As a director, he had directed almost 400 professional productions including the vast majority of world and West End premieres of his work. He has notably directed for the National Theatre - where he was also resident for several years - and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He has been associated with the Stephen Joseph Theatre 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 company.
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.
The recipient of more than 40 awards recognising his plays and career, he was the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and has notably been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts. He was knighted in 1997 for 'services to the theatre'.
Source: Alan Ayckbourn's official website www.alanayckbourn.net.
Copyright: Haydonning Ltd.