Books by Alan Ayckbourn

A musical which provides roles for eight actors/singers, combining the work of Alan Ayckbourn with John Pattison's fully integrated score (published separately) that ranges from the operatic to pop.

Eight years of macaroni and cheese for breakfast, lunch and supper...It's enough to drive a boy crazy - until a new, unexpected, and rather dangerous creature arrives on Callisto 5.|1 woman, 2 men

An ingenious set greets the audience of this award winning play: the cross section of a Victorian house that has been divided into three flats. The owner, a fastidious, elegant executive named Barbara, contentedly occupies the ordered, male free ground floor visible in its entirety. The basement ceiling can be seen and this is were Gilbert, a boorish postman and handyman, is painting a nude study of his landlady. Barbara is letting Nikki, a schoolfriend, and her fiance use the upstairs flat even though she has taken an instant dislike to him. Ever life's victim, Nikki is destined to suffer yet again when Barbara succumbs to an unexpected and violent passion.-2 women, 2 men

The Prince awakens Princess Aurora and the eager, happy young couple are about to embark on their first night of passionate love when ugly, unloved Carabosse, the wicked witch, butts in having taken a fancy to the Prince. But which one will be the Awaking Beauty?

Mr Whatnot is Mint, a piano tuner, summoned to the stately home of Lord and Lady Slingsby-Craddock. Once there he falls in love with their daughter, Amanda, elopes with her, fails to save her from marriage to Cecil but wins through in the end. With plenty of mime and sound effects Mr Whatnot offers great opportunities to an imaginative director for a highly entertaining and unusual production.|4 women, 7 men

In this play, Sarah's desperate attempts to have a nice, civilized week end culminate, not surprisingly, in disaster. Ruth, Norman's wife, is summoned but Norman still contrives to cause havoc involving, finally, all three women. Matters are not helped by such events as the slow thinking Tom mistaking Ruth's intentions during a conversation they have together. Eventually the horrific week end draws to a close.3 women, 3 men

Due to an unfortunate triple booking, three storytellers, Peter, Paul and Percy, arrive simultaneously each to tell his own story. After some acrimony, Percy wins out and is soon telling his story - a Victorian yarn featuring, to his dismay, Paul who has hijacked the leading role. Soon Peter in turn is continuing Percy's unresolved fable only to find Percy appearing in this. In due course, Peter appears in Paul's gothic story (an extension of Peter's forties tales) and together they reach a surprisingly happy conclusion.8 women, 9 men

Four typical Ayckbourn misfits are playing a Dungeons and Dragons type game in a suburban living room. Stanley, Hazel, Warren and Rick make the weekly escape from their real life nightmares into a role-playing board game peopled by dragons and monsters. A safe world where the dangers are of their own imagining; where they are free to become heroes of their own devising. But how clear is the dividing line between what they choose to be and what they really are? What would it take for them to lose sight of it altogether?-4 women, 4 men

This ingenious comedy is about two sisters and the choices they make (or have made for them) over a few months. There are four versions that can be done on different evenings, each stemming from one random and one deliberate choice. The story starts with a funeral at which Dorcas, Abigail and Simon solve a dilemma by tossing a coin: either Dorcas or Abigail wins the toss and goes with Simon. Later, at a picnic, Dorcas opts for either a camping adventure for Abigail or a day of sports for herself. The inevitable end of either choice is a wedding.4 women, 8 men

Charlie Conrad is a celebrity. His talent? He hasn't got one; the nation took him to their hearts for very publicly being unable to do anything competently. On a fateful day Charlie has an encounter with Marsha, a children's entertainer otherwise known as Mr Chortles, and his marriage and his career go into freefall...

The Rodales seem like an ordinary family, but beneath the surface things are beginning to crack. Jill and Mal have lost the spark in their marriage, their son Sam resents his father and their daughter Chrissie has recently become a mum and is dealing with marriage issues of her own.

Characters: 3 male, 2 female Composite set: part of a bedroom, sitting-room, eating-area in kitchen The Rodales seem like an ordinary family, but beneath the surface things are beginning to crack. Jill and Mal have lost the spark in their marriage, their son Sam resents his father and their daughter Chrissie has recently become a mum and is dealing with marriage issues of her own. And while they all share advice on how others should live their lives, nobody is really taking it on board

It's Downstairs areas in a modern town house. Winnie is nearly nine. Her mum, Laverne, is second-generation Afro-Caribbean and heavily pregnant but continues with her cleaning job since her husband left while she dreams of moving the family back to Martinique.

Dennis spends his spare time messing about in his untidy garage, indifferent to the fact that his wife is being driven to distraction and beyond by his possessive mother. The hidden tension and antagonisms under an apparently normal surface build up to a climax of bizarre violence and madness.3 women, 2 men

A thunderstorm. A windswept country house. A family of failures - a detective who has never solved a case, a writer, an artist, a composer, and a dysfunctional teenager - are all arguing over a bequest. But the victim is not who we think it will be and the murderer could be one of three people.

Benjamin Cooper provides comfort and satisfaction to his wealthy patients, by improving their good looks with the aid of surgery. One of his patients is Angie Dell, a model at the peak of her powers. Her charms do not escape Benjamin, nor his old friend and former mentor, Hravic Zyergfoovc.

Henry Bell has come to the Albert Bridge to throw himself off because he has lost his wife and his job. Instead, he saves Karen Knightly who has thrown herself off the bridge already and is dangling by her caught coat. They spend a long night driving. Henry learns that Karen has been jilted by a lover who has gone back to his wife. She suggests revenge as a way to heal their emotional wounds: she will fix Henry's dreadful former boss and Henry must ruin her ex lover's wife.-12 women, 11 men

What could be more pleasant than cruising through the picturesque English countryside? This voyage combines the comedy touches that make Ayckbourn one of the world's best loved playwrights with a darker thread of menace.-4 women, 3 men

An entertainment on marriage by George Melly, Alan Ayckbourn, James Saunders, Harold Pinter, Alun Owen, Fay Weldon, David Campton, Lyndon Brook and John Bowen.1 woman, 1 man or flexible casting

Roland, a hard drinking tycoon, is considering buying an old Victorian house, once a brothel. His solicitor and the vendor, a builder, arrive to complete the deal. Also in the house are his wife, a frustrated dancer who is always considering leaving him, her brother and later the brother's fianc¿, who is uncertain whether or not to run away. In the course of one hectic night and morning, with continual running up and downstairs and in and out of rooms, these characters, each immersed in a personal problem, try to sort themselves out.-2 women, 4 men

Fans of his Ernie's Incredible Illucinations are sure to enjoy this story. Suzy lives in a cottage with her mother and her dog, Neville. Suave but sinister Mr. Accousticus moves into the big house across the street and Neville suddenly loses his bark. Suzy is certain the new neighbor is responsible so she and Neville search his house. What happens next? It's up to the audience in this imaginative tale.-8 women or men

Annie, the Cinderella of the family, lives in the shabby Victorian vicarage type house where the family was brought up. Reg, her brother, and his wife Sarah come to stay for a week end so that she may go away for a "rest". The general idea is that Annie ought to pair off with Tom. But for this weekend it is Norman, the raffish assistant librarian husband of Annie's sister Ruth, with whom she planned to go. They were to meet secretly but Norman turns up early. When Annie calls the whole thing off Norman decides to stay on at the house and gets roaring drunk.3 women, 3 men

Well, that's one down, isn't it. Nine to go. Next! Thou shalt not kill. What about that then? Let's have a crack at that one next, shall we?Jack McCracken: a man of principle in a corrupt world. But not for long. Moments after taking over his father-in-law's business he's approached by a private detective armed with some compromising information.Jack's integrity fades away as he discovers his extended family to be thieves and adulterers, looting the business from their suburban homes. Rampant self-interest takes over and comic hysteria builds to a macabre climax.A riotous exposure of entrepreneurial greed, Alan Ayckbourn's A Small Family Business, premiered at the National Theatre in 1987 and returned there in April 2014.

Love stories yet to happen, in a future filled with surprises.Who is the amorous stranger, Titus, who materialises in young Grace's bedroom? Can she believe he is who he says he is? For her parents, Franklin and Martha, does love everlasting still hold true if death is postponed indefinitely? Can lawyer Lorraine, who prides herself on her infallibility, have finally discovered the ideal partner, one who is also never wrong? Will lonely secretary Sylvia, after unhappy affairs with everyone from deep sea divers to space shuttle pilots, ever find her Mr Right?A comedy with its head in the future and its heart in the past, Alan Ayckbourn's Surprises premiered in July 2012 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre.