Books by Alan Ayckbourn

Portrait of Alan Ayckbourn

Alan Ayckbourn stands among Britain's most acclaimed playwrights, celebrated for his sharp observation of everyday relationships and his deft blend of comedy and pathos. His extensive catalogue of plays, from domestic farces to inventive experiments in structure and staging, reveals a writer fascinated by the quirks of human behaviour and the fragile nature of communication.

Across decades of work, Ayckbourn has continually reshaped modern theatre with his wit, technical ingenuity and empathy for ordinary lives. Whether capturing the tensions of suburban dinner parties or the quiet heartbreaks behind polite conversation, his writing remains both timeless and unmistakably British, offering readers and audiences alike a rich portrait of contemporary society.

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17 products


  • Alan Ayckbourn Plays 6

    Faber & Faber Alan Ayckbourn Plays 6

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisIncludes: Time of My Life; Neighbourhood Watch; Arrivals and Departures; Hero's Welcome; A Brief History of Women

    5 in stock

    £17.09

  • Three Plays  Absurd Person Singular Absent

    Vintage Publishing Three Plays Absurd Person Singular Absent

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisBorn in London in 1939, Alan Ayckbourn is one of the world's most popular and prolific playwrights. He has written 74 full length plays and more than 20 other revues and plays for children. He is also an acclaimed director. Alan Ayckbourn was awarded a CBE in 1987. Ten years later to the day, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II 'for services to the theatre.'

    7 in stock

    £10.44

  • Alan Ayckbourn Plays 1

    Faber & Faber Alan Ayckbourn Plays 1

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe first volume of Alan Ayckbourn''s collected work contains his morality plays from the 1980s. It includes the plays A Chorus of Disapproval, A Small Family Business, Henceforward . . ., and Man of the Moment.

    1 in stock

    £17.09

  • The Boy Who Fell into a Book

    Faber & Faber The Boy Who Fell into a Book

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisRockfist Slim''s enemies have just plunged him into yet another desperate situation when Kevin has to close his detective book and go to sleep. But his own adventure is only just beginning. Fast-moving, fun and full of special effects, Ayckbourn''s wonderfully inventive play for children brings alive several well-known children''s books as Kevin and Rockfist Slim escape the baddies and plunge into many different worlds.The Boy Who Fell into a Book premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in December 1998.

    15 in stock

    £10.44

  • The Crafty Art of Playmaking

    Faber & Faber The Crafty Art of Playmaking

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWith over sixty plays written and premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough before going on to play in the West End or the Royal National Theatre, London, or Broadway, Alan Ayckbourn''s expertise in writing and directing plays is unsurpassed.For the first time, here in The Crafty Art of Playmaking, he shares all his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing (Where do you start? How do you continue? What is comedy and how do you write it? What is tragedy and how does it work?), to tips on directing (working with actors and technicians, when to listen to the other experts, how to cope with rehearsals), the book provides a complete primer for the tyro and a refresher for the more experienced. Written in an accessible and highly entertaining style, with anecdotes galore to illustrate the how, when, where and why, it''s worth the cover price for the jokes alone.''A marvellously useful and enjoyably good-humoured book'' Daily Telegraph

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • Alan Ayckbourn Plays 3 Haunting Julia Sugar

    Faber & Faber Alan Ayckbourn Plays 3 Haunting Julia Sugar

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis third volume of Alan Ayckbourn plays includes Haunting Julia, Sugar Daddies, Drowning on Dry Land and Private Fears in Public Places, with an introduction by the author.Haunting Julia''A play for today. It touches on the failures of education and parenting, on media pressure and overdoses. Kurt Cobain comes to mind. More universally, Haunting Julia mourns how in adolescence and adulthood, we do our loves wrong.'' Financial TimesSugar Daddies''A timely warning about the dangers of role-playing and pretence . . . But the real fascination lies in watching Ayckbourn''s own transformation from social observer to impassioned moralist.'' GuardianDrowning on Dry Land''Ayckbourn at the top of his game.'' Guardian''A coruscatingly acid and funny play.'' The TimesPrivate Fears in Public Places''Ayckbourn''s construction has a masterly clarity; his writing coTrade Review"Haunting Julia 'Ayckbourn's gif for characterisation at its oblique best.' Financial Times; Sugar Daddies 'A timely warning about the dangers of role-playing and pretence.' Guardian; Drowning on Dry Land 'Ayckbourn at his best.' Sunday Times; Private Fears in Public Places A tale of the misheard, the unspoken and the sadly misunderstood."

    2 in stock

    £17.09

  • A Small Family Business

    Faber & Faber A Small Family Business

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisWell, that''s one down, isn''t it? Nine to go. Next! Thou shalt not kill. What about that then? Let''s have a crack at that one next, shall we?Jack McCracken is a man of principle until, moments after taking over his father-in-law''s business, he discovers his extended family to be thieves and adulterers, operating a network of racketeering from their suburban homes. Rampant self-interest and comic hysteria take over as Jack succumbs.A Small Family Business premiered at the National Theatre, London, 1987, and won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play.This play offers a devastating assault on the way the entrepreneurial values we were taught to admire in the eighties lead ultimately to fraud, theft, self-deceit, even homicide. It is the modern equivalent of An Inspector Calls only, being Ayckbourn, far funnier. It argues just as passionately as the work of more overtly political writers that there is such a thing as so

    10 in stock

    £10.44

  • Absent Friends

    Samuel French Ltd Absent Friends

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisColin must be comforted in his grief over the death of his fiancee so his friends, who never met the girl, arrange a tea party for him. Understandably they are on edge wondering what to say, but there is more to their unease: Diane and Paul, John and Evelyn, and Marge and her husband are perpetually out of circulation with trivial illnesses are all kept together by a mixture of business and cross-marital emotional ties. By the time Colin arrives for tea, their tenseness contrasts dramatically with his air of cheerful relaxation. He is the only happy one among them and his happiness and insensitive analyses of their troubles causes each of them to break down.

    1 in stock

    £12.80

  • The Norman Conquests Acting Edition

    Samuel French Ltd The Norman Conquests Acting Edition

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £14.99

  • Time of My Life

    Samuel French Ltd Time of My Life

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £14.43

  • Bedroom Farce

    Samuel French Ltd Bedroom Farce

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrevor and Susannah, whose marraige is on the rocks, inflict their miseries on their nearest and dearest: three couples whose own relationships are tenuous at best. Taking place sequentially in the three beleaguered couples'' bedrooms during one endless Saturday night of co-dependence and dysfunction, beds, tempers, and domestic order are ruffled, leading all the players to a hilariously touching epiphany.

    1 in stock

    £11.99

  • Confusions

    Samuel French Ltd Confusions

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £11.99

  • A Brief History of Women

    Samuel French Ltd A Brief History of Women

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA comedy in four parts about an unremarkable man and the remarkable women who loved him. From his first encounters as a young man in 1925 to an unexpected reunion late in life, Anthony Spates'' romantic progress is charted against the backdrop of an equally remarkable old manor house in this hilarious and gently touching comedy.

    2 in stock

    £11.99

  • Ernies Incredible Illucinations

    Samuel French Ltd Ernies Incredible Illucinations

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis is a bright comedy by the famous English comic playwright about the extraordinary powers of Ernie Fraser, a dreamer with a difference. Ernie has a vivid imagination; and his thoughts have the disconcerting habit of turning into reality....

    15 in stock

    £12.55

  • A Cut in the Rates

    Samuel French Ltd A Cut in the Rates

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen Miss Pickhart visits the illusionist Ratchet on official Town Hall business, she discovers a sinister secret. Alone in the cellar after Ratchet is called away, she confronts the ghost of Rosalinda who met an untimely death during the saw the woman in half trick. 2 women, 1 man

    1 in stock

    £11.92

  • Awaking Beauty

    Samuel French Ltd Awaking Beauty

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Prince awakens Princess Aurora and the eager, happy young couple are about to embark on their first night of passionate love when ugly, unloved Carabosse, the wicked witch, butts in having taken a fancy to the Prince. But which one will be the Awaking Beauty?Trade Review" Imagine a fairytale world meeting a saucy seaside postcard and you have something of the flavour of Alan Ayckbourn's 72nd play ... charming moments and some witty ditties ..." Lyn Gardner, Guardian "... it had me appreciating some wry lyrics, chuckling at some mischievous moments, and humming Denis King's larky tunes." Benedict Nightingale, The Times "Age has not withered his [Ayckbourn's] capacity to innovate... here he brings a boldly experimental eye as well as a musical ear and an archly modern and adult sensibility to the evergreen tale of Sleeping Beauty ... spry, knowing lyrics with potent music by Denis King ..." Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph

    1 in stock

    £9.89

  • Klett Sprachen GmbH Confusions Lektren Englisch 3 Einakter

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £11.84

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