Sir Alan Ayckbourn Awarded U.K. Critics' Circle Award for Service to the Arts

The U.K. Critics' Circle has honored playwright and director Sir Alan Ayckbourn with their award for Distinguished Service to the Arts.

The news follows the recent announcement that Ayckbourn will be receiving the 2010 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre alongside actress Marian Seldes.

Sir Alan Ayckbourn has written over 74 full length plays, including the Norman Conquests, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2009, and has directed over 300 plays. Among his most famous plays are Absurd Person Singular and A Small Family Business. Major successes include Bedroom Farce, Just Between Ourselves, A Chorus of Disapproval, Woman in Mind, Man Of The Moment, House & Garden and Private Fears in Public Places.

More than 40 of his plays have been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit Relatively Speaking opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967.

His plays have won numerous awards, including seven London Evening Standard Awards. They have been translated into over 35 languages and are performed on stage and television throughout the world. Ten of his plays have been staged on Broadway, attracting two Tony nominations, and one Tony award. Between 1972 and 2009, he was the Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, where the majority of his work has been and continues to be premiered. 

For more information, visit www.criticscircle.org.uk.