Alan Ayckbourn Encyclopaedia: Dates - September
2 September: West End premiere of Taking Steps at the Lyric Theatre in 1980; world premiere of Alain Resnais's film adaptation of Private Fears In Public Places in 2007.3 September: West End premiere of Woman In Mind at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1986; broadcast premiere of In Confidence featuring Alan Ayckbourn on Sky Arts in 2012.
4 September: Famed literary agent - and Alan's first agent - Margaret 'Peggy' Ramsay dies in 1991; world premiere of RolePlay at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2001; world premiere of Farcicals at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2013; Taking Steps becomes the first play to have 100 performances at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1980.
5 September: World premiere of A Brief History Of Women at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 2017.
6 September: World premiere of Family Album at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 2022; Radio premiere of the BBC's adaptation of Living Together (The Norman Conquests) in 1990; broadcast premiere of The Playwrights - Alan Ayckbourn on ITV in 1976.
7 September: West End premiere of the Damsels In Distress trilogy at the Duchess Theatre in 2002.
8 September: World premiere of Hero's Welcome at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2015.
9 September: World premiere of Roundelay at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2014.
10 September: Alan Ayckbourn celebrates his 60th anniversary with the Stephen Joseph Theatre with a two-part event A Brief History Of Plays in 2017; world premiere of Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2019; world premiere of Show & Tell at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2024.
11 September: Composer Edward Cowie's sonic portrait of Sir Alan Ayckbourn is broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the National Portrait Gallery's 150th anniversary celebrations; world premiere of Better Off Dead at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2018.
12 September: World premiere of Constant Companions in 2023; Alan Ayckbourn resigns as chairman of the Yorkshire Arts Association citing work pressures in 1979; Alan Ayckbourn's first novel The Divide published by PS Publishing in 2019.
13 September: World premiere of Neighbourhood Watch at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2011; radio premiere of the BBC's adaptation of Just Between Ourselves in 2008; radio premiere of the BBC's adaptation of Round & Round The Garden (The Norman Conquests) in 1990.
14 September: Radio premiere of the BBC's adaptation of Confusions in 1979.
15 September: Broadcast premiere of the documentary Ayckbourn In Action on BBC Radio 4 in 2011; final professional acting performance at the Library Theatre in the role of the narrator in R.G. Gregory's Death At The New Year in 1962; world premiere of the grey play, Father of Invention, with a rehearsed reading at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2024.
16 September: World premiere of Life Of Riley at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2010; Alan Ayckbourn's first book The Crafty Art Of Playmaking published by Faber & Faber in 2002; world premiere of Countdown at the Colchester Repertory Club in 1962; first try-out of Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical By Jeeves in front of an audience in 1995; world premiere of Consuming Passions at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2016.
17 September: Professional premiere of Ernie's Incredible Illucinations at the Unicorn Theatre for Children in 1971; world premiere of the grey play, Truth Will Out, with a rehearsed reading at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
19 September: Alan Ayckbourn marries Heather Stoney in 1997; final performance as a professional actor in William Gibson's Two For The Seesaw at the Civic Theatre, Rotherham, in 1964.
20 September: Broadcast premiere of A Boat In The Backyard by David Bramley, directed by Alan Ayckbourn, on BBC Radio 4 in 1969.
21 September: Broadcast premiere of The Greatest Plague Of Life by the Brothers Mayhew, directed by Alan Ayckbourn and read by Daphne Oxenford, on BBC Radio 4 in 1970.
24 September: London premiere of Family Circles at the Orange Tree, Richmond, in 1978.
25 September: World premiere of Season's Greetings at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1980.
26 September: Alan Ayckbourn directs a Shakespeare play for the first time with Othello at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1990 starring Michael Gambon.
27 September: world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's adaptation of Henry Becque's Les Corbeaux - retitled Wolf At The Door - at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1989; Paul Allen's biography of Alan Ayckbourn - Grinning at the Edge - is published by Methuen in 2001; West End revival of A Chorus Of Disapproval at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2012; Staged reading - and first public unveiling of - Alan Ayckbourn's novel The Divide at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2015.
28 September: World premiere of Taking Steps at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1979; television premiere of Granada Television's adaptation of Bedroom Farce in 1980; By Jeeves closes at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, prior to transfer to the Lyric Theatre in 1996.
29 September: Television premiere of the BBC's adaptation of Absent Friends in 1985; Alan Ayckbourn celebrates his 80th birthday at the Stephen Joseph Theatre with the 80 Years Young event in 2019.
30 September: World premiere of Confusions at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, in 1974; London premiere of Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays at Polka Theatre in 1989.
Original research for the The Alan Ayckbourn Encyclopaedia section is by Simon Murgatroyd and copyright of the author.