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This is a second enlarged, updated and revised edition of the 'play' A Guided Tour through Ayckbourn Country, which was originally published in 1999. It is not a play in the strictest sense of the word. Neither is it intended to be a scientific treatise and should not be regarded as one. It is more of a collage. It has been put together from many sources: interviews that Albert-Reiner Glaap has conducted with Alan Ayckbourn over the years, statements made by Ayckbourn himself on his plays and more general matters, and articles on the Ayckbourn phenomenon. To a great extent the contributions to this play follow chronologically the course of Alan Ayckbourn's career from its earliest stages to this present day. What makes this 'performance' interesting is that it is not solely concerned with Ayckbourn's dramatic work, it rather seeks to provide a broader picture of Ayckbourn the writer, Ayckbourn the director and, probably most importantly, Ayckbourn the man. On the one hand it is a tribute, made by Albert-Reiner Glaap, to a man that he has come to think very highly of over the years that they have known each other, and on the other it is a window onto Ayckbourn country. An opportunity for those who do not know Ayckbourn so well to get a glimpse into what makes the great bard tick. Ideally, this book will act as a springboard, or maybe even as a goad, to find out more about Ayckbourn, to experience his work first hand. To those who already know his work this volume hopes to provide the sort of background information that usually is not available to the general public as it comes straight from the horse's mouth.
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