Books by Alan Ayckbourn

Colin 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.

Elspeth and Arthur are celebrating forty years of quiet, safe, unspectacular, ordinary marriage. Or so most of the guests attending their anniversary party are led to believe. But knowing her and knowing him as they do, their son and daughter know differently.

After a hit and run accident, naive country girl Sasha comes to the aid of ex-villain Val who is using a bogus identity as an ex-policeman. Sasha befriends Val and welcomes him into her home; overcome by her generosity and childlike innocence, he showers Sasha with lavish gifts whilst his rival Ashley, knowing of Val's sordid past, seeks to protect Sasha from this potential danger.

Six people with six very separate lives are strangely linked by circumstance. Does Nicola still love Dan? Can Stewart be on the verge of an office romance? Will Imogen ever find true love? Does Ambrose have a secret life? And what on earth is Charlotte up to?

Five interrelated one-act plays, written to be performed in any order determined randomly prior to performance, looking at the lives of a judge, agent, politician, budding star and novelist.

Chloë With Love - Teddy's marriage to Lottie is going through a difficult period. Does he still love Lottie? Does Lottie still love him? Cue next door neighbours Penny and Reggie to the rescue. Penny weighing in to help Lottie and Reggie resolving to help his best friend to resist temptation. But with the arrival of the voluptuous Chloë all their best laid schemes are put to the test.The Kidderminster Affair - Sexual intrigue at Teddy's garden barbecue. Is his secret liaison with his neighbour, Penny, about to leak out? Will his wife Lottie discover the awful truth about Kidderminster? Will Penny's husband and best friend Reggie ever get hold of the right end of the stick? Will he burn the barbecue? Or indeed resolve the mystery of the slow puncture?

A terrorist code-named Cerastes is on the loose, and an undercover anti-terrorist squad have planned a sting to capture him as he steps off a train at a London station.The operation, led by the buffoonish Acting Major Quentin Sexton, has drawn in two outsiders - Ez and Barry. Perfect strangers as the play begins, their time waiting for the trap to be sprung gives them the chance to get to know each other, and try to make sense of the chaos unfolding around them.

Though he's lauded in the media as a military hero, Murray is remembered less fondly by many in his old village. He left amidst rumours of arson, unplanned pregnancy and stealing his best friend's girlfriend. So when he returns, seventeen years later, with a new wife in tow, he creates trouble from the beginning - not least with his ex-fiancee. As more secrets emerge and old scores are settled, the village is drawn into the crossfire.

Julia Lukin, a musical prodigy, committed suicide twelve years ago and now memories of her haunt the three men closest to her. Her father, Joe, has never come to terms with her death, and in the Julia Lukin Music Centre, he meets with a psychic, Ken, and Julia's boyfriend, Andy - the last person to see her alive, in hope of finding some answers. The men meet in Julia's old bedroom and Joe reveals that he believes Julia is trying to contact him in order to explain what happened. Between the three men, the story of Julia's life and death is gradually revealed - often at odds with what each man believes he knew.

MusicalCharacters: 1 male, 3 female Interior Set Book and Lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn. Music by Paul Todd. Mrs. Mary Yately is no run of the mill housewife-- she has been chosen by the Evening Echo as Mum of the Year. And, Mrs. Yately is no ordinary character in this brilliantly inventive new musical by Britain's comic master-- she is three separate personalities, played by three actresses. One actor plays all the men in Mary's life, all of whom are, shall we say, not on this world to make her life easier. "We know that Alan Ayckbourn writes more ingenious comedies than anyone else. Now, he is starting to write more ingenious musicals as well. Me, Myself and I offers more civilized pleasure than any other British musical I've seen this year."-- London Guardian. "Splendid, galloping music and rapid fire lyrics."-- London Standard.

Six aspiring authors meet on a winter's evening to discuss their work. The chairman, Arnold, attempts to get the rest of the group out of a rut by suggesting that they collaborate on a piece of writing, an idea that is received without enthusiasm. However, as Arnold is clearing up after the meeting there is a clap of thunder, a black-out.

A play set in the foreseeable future when everything has changed except human nature; a future where TV daytime soaps are performed by android actors emotionally programmed by the control room. One, JC 31333, finds herself humanized as Jacie Triplethree, complete with a sense of humour and Adam, a young scriptwriter, falls for her.

This comic thriller uses time travel to explore "rewriting the future". The year is 2014 and Phobe, a prostitute, is dragged into the aftermath of a double murder - only to find herself literally stepping into the past and the lives of the victims.

"As perceptive as ever ... Ayckbourn has once again achieved a satisfyingly rich, tragi-comic complexity" Daily Telegraph

"House" and "Garden" are two plays with the same characters running simultaneously in adjacent auditoria. In "House" Teddy Platt, whose marriage is on the rocks, is visited by the creepy Gavin Ryng-Mayne, and in "Garden", Teddy's jilted mistress threatens suicide as a garden fete is prepared.

The year is 1996. Trevor and Linda have been struggling for a while to deal with the behaviour of their rebellious teenage son Jason. In a moment of madness, they hatch a plan to create his own funeral in their living room.

Murganah loves Ahmed, the Sultan's youngest son, but feeling herself rejected, she invokes the help of dark supernatural forces to regain him. When she finally loses him to another she seeks a terrible revenge.3 women, 7 men

The suburban house of the Bakers' adjoins a recreation field, which is useful since football and cricket play a large part in the story. Peter, who works for Graham, brings his fiancee to the house and Graham, as usual, makes a bee-line for her. However, it is Mrs. Baker's brother, Leonard, to whom Joan strays. Leonard, poetic, a fumbler, who moons around holding conversations with the garden gnome, has always roused the bullying Graham's malice and scorn, who is horrified when he catches the younger man very much with Joan.-2 women, 3 men

Caroline marries an unemployed actor, Kevin, whom she supports while he flirts with women and spoils her flat with his oafish behaviour. Eventually he seduces one of her pupils and Caroline throws him out. Miserably isolated, she goes to dinner with Jilly and Ivor and meets Matthew who appears eminently suitable. But their ensuing affair is doomed by Matthew's persistent, precision fault-finding and Caroline realizes she can cope better with the slovenly, but kind-hearted, Kevin sprawling on her sofa. The plot is evolved in clever time-splitting sequences between the present and three years past.3 women, 4 men, 8 women or men

When 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

This futuristic musical is set in a small-town railway station. Harry Wooller, a vicar, is looking for sponsorship for his group's musical Mystery play. But when youth arsonists destroy Earl Smallboys' "Paradise Club", Earl pulls out of the deal.