Alan Ayckbourn - Tapa dura

"Using dozens of interviews from all areas of Ayckbourn's life, Allen reveals a complex, brilliant individual who has contributed to the reshaping of British theater .Ayckbourn's personal and professional experiences are interwoven with concurrent develop "Amusing anecdotes."--East Bay Express "Amusing anecdotes." East Bay Express "Paul Allen's biography of Alan Ayckbourn captures both the playwright and his plays....the best overview of a brilliant dramatic career." Magill Book Reviews "Paul Allen has penned an authorized, highly detailed personal and career biography of [Ayckbourn] that will surely be the the last word on the playwright for some time." Publisher's Weekly, April 29, 2002 "Alan is quite simply the most genuine theatrical animal I have ever met." Andrew Lloyd Webber "I am convinced that Alan's plays - along with Harold Pinter's - will be cherished by posterity. Maybe one day there'll be a Royal Ayckbourn Company." Michael Billington "What he has given to the theatre is immeasurable. I take my hat off to him." Harold Pinter "A script arriving from Alan is manna from heaven. All you have to do is learn the text faithfully, follow his punctuation meticulously, and lo and behold you get a reputation as an Ayckbourn actress - and if he's directing, you sometimes win awards too." Julia McKenzie "If, in a hundred years, anyone wants to know what it was like to live in the second half of the 20th century, I am quite sure they will turn to the plays of Alan Ayckbourn before they look at historians or sociologists." Peter Hall

The first full and authorized biography of Britain's most popular playwright.