Alan Ayckbourn Quotes

#1. A gentleman ... sleeps at his work. That's what work's for. Why do you think they have the SILENCE notices in the library? So as not to disturb me in my little nook behind the biography shelves.

Alan Ayckbourn

#2. There is a school of thought that believes that sleep is for the night. You appear to be out to disprove them.

Alan Ayckbourn

#3. I think of a plot, I think of an idea, and then I wonder, How can I get that onto the stage? ... Whatever devices you use should always be there to serve the theme. If the theme has been overtaken by the device, then something's wrong.

Alan Ayckbourn

#4. The darker the subject, the more light you must try to shed on the matter. And vice versa.

Alan Ayckbourn

#5. He really is terribly heavy going. Like running up hill in roller skates.

Alan Ayckbourn

#6. As a writer one is allowed to have conversations with oneself. What is considered sane in writers is made for the rest of the human race.

Alan Ayckbourn

#7. A comedy is just a tragedy interrupted, I once said. Do you finish with the kiss or when she opens her eyes to tell him she loves him and sees blonde hairs on his collar?

Alan Ayckbourn

#8. Few women care to be laughed at and men not at all, except for large sums of money.

Alan Ayckbourn

#9. There are very few people on top of life, and the rest of us don't like them very much.

Alan Ayckbourn

#10. Cats names are more for human benefit. They give one a certain degree more confidence that the animal belongs to you.

Alan Ayckbourn

#11. Salad, I can't bear salad. It grows while you're eating it, you know.

Alan Ayckbourn

#12. Plays by Alan Ayckbourn have been attracting larger audiences in the regional theatres than those of Shakespeare.

Alan Ayckbourn

#13. If you are flattering a woman, it pays to be a little more subtle. You don't have to bother with men, they believe any compliment automatically.

Alan Ayckbourn