Friday, December 20, 2013

Unseen Ayckbourn recommended by The Stage

The Stage has listed the book Unseen Ayckbourn amongst its pick of theatre books of the year.
Unseen Ayckbourn, by Alan Ayckbourn's archivist Simon Murgatroyd, is highlighted in the newspapers' 'best books and CDs of the year' and notes:
"Self-published Unseen Ayckbourn was a fascinating examination of the playwright's rarely seen, withdrawn, lost and (occasionally) altered plays by official archivist Simon Murgatroyd."
The book (which is available from Lulu publishing here) draws on Simon Murgatroyd's years of experience as the playwright's archivist exploring Ayckbourn rarities over more than 55 years.
From his school day writing to his earliest existing play, The Season, to unwritten plays such as Sight Unseen to the present day with unused concepts for Surprises, Unseen Ayckbourn explores a wealth of material relating to withdrawn, unpublished, lost and never seen plays and ideas for plays.
It also includes exclusive extracts from many of the withdrawn plays as well as extensive quotes from Alan Ayckbourn himself about the plays. The book also includes an exclusive conversation with the playwright about his early writing career and a behind the scenes look at the musical Jeeves.
Unseen Ayckbourn is available now and can be ordered online by clicking here.