Sir Alan Ayckbourn was born in London in 1939, and has worked in theater all his life. From 1972 to 2009, he was the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, and he has had over 70 full-length plays produced in Scarborough and London throughout his career. Over 40 have been produced in London's West End.
His first West End hit, Relatively Speaking (1968), opened in 1967, and major plays since have included Absurd Person Singular (1974); The Norman Conquests (1975); Bedroom Farce (1977); Just Between Ourselves (1978); A Chorus Of Disapproval (1985); Woman In Mind (1986); A Small Family Business (1987); Man Of The Moment (1990); Things We Do For Love (1998); Comic Potential (1999); Private Fears in Public Places (2004) and Roundelay (2014).
In 1985, Alan Ayckbourn received the Olivier Award for Best Comedy for A Chorus of Disapproval, and in 2009 he received the Laurence Olivier Special Award. After receiving the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, he was knighted in 1997.
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