Alan ayckbourn brief biography of prophets

A short biography suitable for use in programmes is also available here. This article is available to reproduce providing the author and this website are credited.

Alan Ayckbourn is one of the world’s most popular and prolific professional playwrights.

He has written - as of 2024 - 91 full length plays and more than 20 other revues and plays for children. He is also an acclaimed director, who Arthur Miller said directed the definitive version of his play A View From The Bridge.

Alan was born in Hampstead, London, on 12 April, 1939.

His mother was Irene Maud Worley – better known as the novelist Mary James - and his father Horace Ayckbourn, lead violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Educated at Haileybury, Alan left school at the age of 17 to pursue a career in the theatre immediately gaining a job with the theatre impresario Sir Donald Wolfit in 1