In this new play by Alan Ayckbourn we start with a eulogy to a dead man, who died, we guess given the nature of the play, in his fight for the survival of his neighbourhood. Because of its length, there should, we began to think, have been a hint of...

Although it's a stock dramatic device, Torben Betts gives it a fresh and funny spin in this new play that, at its best, puts one in mind of Alan Ayckbourn and Mike Leigh. I only wish that Betts, having created such well-observed characters, didn't...

You’ve won already. Unless he’s worried that Lope de Vega is somehow badmouthing him to his mates back in the Spanish Golden Age, I think Alan Ayckbourn has pretty much established bragging rights. Though he doesn’t seem to be resting on his laurels. ...

February 2012 by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Echo THE Playhouse is just about to embark on possibly its most complex programming and ticketing system ever with news it is tackling The Norman Conquests this spring. Alan Ayckbourn’s, pictured trilogy of...

Friends makes grief funny - a rare feat. And although Alan Ayckbourn's 1974 play is a period piece, its sharp understanding of psychology feels up-to-date. Fidgety John and sour-faced Evelyn drop in on unhappily married Paul and Diana. They are joined...

Critics heap praise on a West End revival of Sir Alan Ayckbourn's Absent Friends starring The League of Gentlemen's Reece Shearsmith and Strictly Come Dancing winner Kara Tointon. More. The latest gossip and news written in the BBC News - Entertainment...