The people who have influenced Alan Ayckbourn are the subject of a brand new section on Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website as part of its relaunch.
The Influences pages, which can be found in the Research section of the website, aims to shine a light on some of the well-known and less well-known people who Alan Ayckbourn regards as significant influences in his life.
These people, who Alan refers to as 'Guardian Uncles', often led to key decisions in his life or had a profound impact on his work.
The section - which will expand to include more people over the coming months - initially concentrates on three important men: Stephen Joseph, Edgar Matthews and Alfred Bradley.
Stephen Joseph, perhaps the most obvious and well known of Alan's mentors, was responsible for encouraging Alan to both write and direct and was the single most influential in Alan's life.
Edgar Matthews was Alan's French master at Haileybury College and it is because of him, Alan's nascent passion for theatre was aroused. He was also responsible for getting Alan his first two professional jobs in the business.
Alfred Bradley was the acclaimed and highly influential BBC Radio Producer who almost single-handedly launched Northern writing on the radio. He encouraged and nurtured a whole swathe of new writers and Alan, who worked for him at the BBC for five years, was highly influenced by both his work and the way he worked.
You can find out more about all these people and Alan's own thoughts on them in the new section of www.alanayckbourn.net.
This new section is part of an 18 month relaunch of the entirety of Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website, covering 3,500 pages.
Phase I launched last week with a new look for the major sections of the website. Phase II will see all of the Plays section relaunched whilst Phase III, to be completed by Alan Ayckbourn's 75th birthday in 2014 will convert all the remaining sections of the site. The complete website will work as normal throughout the relaunch.
During the next 18 months and beyond, new sections and pages will be added to the website to further expand the amount of information available on Alan Ayckbourn on the website and to continue the aim to make it the single most comprehensive resource on the playwright in the world.
