Alan Ayckbourn is the author of 70 full-length plays of which roughly half have been national and international successes, translated into more than 30 languages; five ran simultaneously in London’s West End and four simultaneously on Broadway, an unmatched record. He is thus the most popular of a generation of British playwrights who have chosen to deal with serious issues largely through comedy.
Alan Ayckbourn was born in Hampstead, London, a few months before the outbreak of World War II. His father was a prominent violinist and his mother a novelist and short story-writer. Unusually for the period, even for the more Bohemian classes, they never married, though Ayckbourn was unaware of this until his fifties. The relationship was full of separations, stormy and short-lived. Ayckbourn
2459 words
Citation: Allen, Paul. "Alan Ayckbourn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 February 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=197, accessed 25 November 2024.]
