Ayckbourn, Alan (Vol. 5) | Ayckbourn, Alan 1939–
Ayckbourn, Alan 1939–
Ayckbourn is a British dramatist, director, and actor. His plays, whether considered biting social commentary or ingenious farces, are always said to display technical virtuosity. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 21-22.)
[Ayckbourn] has … consistently and uncompromisingly avoided any suggestion of deeper meaning in his plays. Try as we may we cannot find any trace of social or political indoctrination masquerading as harmless diversion, let alone of cosmic anguish. His prime determination is unmistakably to make us laugh and keep us laughing, and all his considerable technical gifts are marshalled to that end alone. It is a tight-rope, and a particularly dangerous, vertiginous tight-rope at that, since if the writer stumbles he has no safety net of deeper significance to fall into: if his plays are not funny they are nothing. And while we are inclined to accept serious intent, however muffed, as a mitigating...
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