Alan Ayckbourn - Simon Murgatroyd / Administrator

Simon Murgatroyd: Alan Ayckbourn's Personal Archivist & Website Administrator
Simon Murgatroyd is Alan Ayckbourn's Personal Archivist and the administrator and founder of the playwright's official website. He also acts as a press liaison for the playwright and is considered an expert on Alan Ayckbourn and his plays. He is entirely responsible for the website; from writing material to compiling and researching information as well as maintaining the website. . My interest in Alan Ayckbourn's plays began in 1987, when I saw the original production of Henceforward… at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough. In essence, that one play is all to blame! After graduating from London College Of Dance with a BA(hons) in Dance and Theatre in 1992, I pursued a career as journalist from 1993 to 1999, employed as the arts and features writer for the Scarborough Evening News. In 1995, I became the lead theatre critic at the newspaper and launched a weekly arts supplement. During that period I was reviewing the world premieres of Alan’s plays and writing numerous features on both Alan and the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round. This work included extensive coverage of the company's move to its present home, the Stephen Joseph Theatre. As a journalist, one of my career high-points was breaking the news that Alan and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical By Jeeves was to open the new theatre. In 1999, I left the Evening News to study for an MA in Theatre And Contemporary Practice specialising in the fantasy influences in Alan Ayckbourn's plays. At the same time, I was employed by the Stephen Joseph Theatre. A year later, Alan Ayckbourn asked me to become the co-ordinator of the Ayckbourn And The Round event; a week with Alan and his company which attracted participants from around the world. In 2001, having completed my MA, I created this website (originally The Alan Ayckbourn Resource Guide, later The Alan Ayckbourn Guide and now just Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website), I continued to co-ordinate Ayckbourn And The Round, became the Deputy Box Office Manager at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and began occasional freelance lecturing on Alan Ayckbourn. In 2004, the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s Archivist Bob Watson tragically died. Bob was passionate about his voluntary work and I felt this work should not be lost and I offered to take on his job voluntarily. In 2005, this position was made permanent and I took on the role of Stephen Joseph Theatre Archivist full-time in conjunction with my role as administrator for this website. In 2009, as a result of Alan stepping down as the theatre's Artistic Director, my position was altered to Alan Ayckbourn's Personal Archivist And Website Administrator. Although still based at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and maintaining The Bob Watson Archive, the majority of my time is spent working for Alan Ayckbourn and on this website as well as writing original commissions about the playwright and his plays for theatre programmes and other publications.




Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website
Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website was created in 2001 as a direct response to my experiences studying for my MA in Contemporary Art and Practice. I quickly realised the subject of my dissertation, Alan Ayckbourn, was ill-served by books, academic material and resources. Having graduated, I decided to make use of my extensive research on Alan and began creating the website in my spare time. The aim of which, initially, was to provide an accurate representation of what had been published by and about Alan across various media. From here, the website began to grow exponentially as it became obvious a single resource – accurate and well-researched – on Alan and his plays would be of benefit to other students and researchers. From the start, it was my wish this resource would be both free to access and freely available. As a result of this, Alan Ayckbourn gave his official approval to the site in 2002. The entire site was re-launched in 2003 and received a complete upgrade in 2006/7. The website is continually expanding and the ultimate aim is to create a single, definitive point of reference on the internet for Alan Ayckbourn.

Articles, Publications, Exhibitions, Lectures And Talks
Since becoming the Archivist at The Bob Watson Archive in 2005 (now Alan Ayckbourn's Personal Archivist And Website Administrator), I have written articles and programme notes for a range of professional publications and theatres including Alan Ayckbourn's home theatre, the Stephen Joseph Theatre, as well as the Old Vic and other theatres in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. A guide to how to commission articles as well as some of the commissions received can be found by visiting the Commissions pages. I have also been lecturing and giving talks on Alan Ayckbourn since graduating from my MA in 2002 (during which I launched and co-ordinated the Arts module for the University Of Hull’s newly created degree in Arts and Humanities for mature students). Since assuming the role of Archivist, I have regularly presented talks and lectures on Alan Ayckbourn, the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Stephen Joseph. If you are interested in commissioning articles about Alan Ayckbourn and / or his plays or wish to discuss lectures / talks or any other aspect of this page, please contact me via the link above. I have also been the curator for two exhibitions at the Stephen Joseph Theatre: A Round 50 (marking the Stephen Joseph Theatre's 50th anniversary) and Alan Ayckbourn: Seen And Unseen (marking Alan Ayckbourn's final season as Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre).

The Bob Watson Archive At The Stephen Joseph Theatre
I have been working in The Bob Watson Archive at the Stephen Joseph Theatre since 2005 (full-time between 2005 and 2009; part-time from 2009, when my work with the SJT became just one aspect of my job as Alan Ayckbourn's Personal Archivist). The immediate aim was to create a viable resource on Alan Ayckbourn for the theatre, which could be accessed by anyone interested in Alan’s work across the world. In the first year, a digital archive of material on all Alan’s plays was created. In addition, I have written individual introduction guides to all of Alan’s plays, approved by the playwright; these are available to anyone studying Alan’s plays. In the future, the role of the archive and its services will expand with the aim of it becoming the pre-eminent resource for anyone looking to learn about Alan Ayckbourn and the Stephen Joseph Theatre. In 2006, the archive was renamed The Bob Watson Archive in memory of its founder, Bob Watson.

Ayckbourn And The Round
This event was launched in 2001 and ran until 2005 with myself as co-ordinator between 2002 - 2005. Ayckbourn And The Round was a unique event in which anyone could come to the Stephen Joseph Theatre and spend a week with Alan Ayckbourn and his company, partaking in masterclasses with Alan, watching rehearsals, taking part in discussions with the playwright and watching live performances among other things.


If you have any enquiries about this page or the website, contact the administrator at: admin@alanayckbourn.net.