Alan Ayckbourn News

Performances are at The Witham in Barnard Castle on 27 September, The Playhouse in Alnwick on 28 September, Queen's Hall Arts Centre in Hexham on 29 September, and The Maltings in Berwick on 30 September.

Critically acclaimed writer and actress, Alison Skilbeck, returns to Assembly for her fifth Edinburgh Fringe to premiere her new play, 'Alison Skilbeck's Uncommon Ground', in the Front Room, Assembly Rooms on George St from 3-27 August.

There are those rare instances when a director perfectly casts and directs a play. The actor in every role inhabits the playwright’s characters and delivers performances that transcend an exceptional script to further elevate the material. That is exactly what Robert Ashton has done with Albion Theatre’s second show of their inaugural season with his casting and direction of Alan Ayckbourn’s comical farce ABSENT FRIENDS.

Hedgerow Theatre announced both a one-week extension and a virtual streaming option of the company's Barrymore Recommended world premiere production of The Puzzle by Juliette Dunn.

Cleveland Play House will bring its 2022-2023 season to a close with the world premiere production of Ken Ludwig's Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure. Running April 29 through May 21 in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

Smash-Hit show The Bodyguard will visit Milton Keynes Theatre on 29 May - 03 June

Written by Sir Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Janet Brandwood for Stirling Theatre, Absurd Person Singular documents the changing fortunes of three married couples who turn up in each other's kitchens on successive Christmas Eves. 

BroadwayWorld UK spoke with Robert Hastie about what it's been like to be involved with Operation Mincemeat, how he became a director, and what it's like to direct both Shakespeare and musicals!

APRIL IN PARIS runs at North Fourth Art Center, 4904 4th St. NW, Albuquerque, NM 3 weekends, from April 21 – May 7, 2023.

A previously unseen John Bratby portrait of theatrical legend Alan Ayckbourn will be the centrepiece of a new exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery exploring the role of portaiture.  

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Neal Street Productions, in association with Hera Pictures, have announced casting for the world-premiere of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by RSC Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman. 

The cast has been announced for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds' much-anticipated upcoming production of The Children, alongside the previously announced Imogen Stubbs.  Lucy Kirkwood's post-apocalyptic drama was hailed by The Guardian as one of the top three plays in their 'Best Theatre Shows of the 21st Century', following two retired nuclear scientists whose isolated life by the sea is disrupted by an old friend with a frightening request. 

​​​​​​​Wagner's soaring masterpiece Lohengrin returns to the Met stage after 17 years, in a new production by internationally renowned director François Girard. The production runs from February 26th-April 1st.

​​​​​​​Players Guild of Leonia, founded in 1919, presents the hilarious comedy, BEDROOM FARCE, at the Civil War Drill Hall Theatre (130 Grand Avenue, Leonia). The show will be presented over three weekends, starting this Friday, January 20th, and closing on Sunday February 5th. Performances are 8:00pm Fridays and Saturdays, and 3:00pm on Sundays.

Players Guild of Leonia will present the hilarious comedy, BEDROOM FARCE, at the Civil War Drill Hall Theatre. The show will be presented over three weekends, starting this Friday, January 20th, and closing on Sunday February 5th.

Barry Grove will step down as the Executive Producer of Manhattan Theatre Club at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season.

Wiltshire Creative has announced full casting for their production of Alan Ayckbourn's How the Other Half Loves. Gareth Machin directs Sam Alexander (William Featherstone), Sherry Baines (Fiona Foster), Philip Bretherton (Frank Foster), and Rebecca Cooper (Mary Featherstone), Haydn Oakley (Bob Phillips), and Joanna van Kampen (Teresa Phillips).

Rebecca Thornhill will star as Mama Rose and Evelyn Hoskins will play her daughter Louise in 'Gypsy' at The Mill at Sonning Theatre, running from 24 May - 15 July, 2023.

Brigid Larmour has announced she will be stepping down from her role as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Watford Palace Theatre in Spring 2023. 

A year of shows from Scarborough's SJT has been unveiled, including a (more or less) Shakespeare, a revival of one of the theatre's most popular shows of recent years, and, of course, a brand new play by Alan Ayckbourn.