91Èȱ¬

On 12 April, award-winning British playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn celebrates his 70th birthday. To date, he has written 72 full-length plays and directed more than 300 productions, including the West End premieres of many of his plays.

To mark this well-loved writer's birthday, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 and 91Èȱ¬ Radio 7 are broadcasting a series of programmes throughout April celebrating the life and career of this unique theatrical talent.

Two brand new productions of Ayckbourn's dramas feature in the celebrations: The Man Of The Moment (Radio 4) and A Small Family Business (Radio 3) – both with all star casts; a special edition of With Great Pleasure (Radio 4), where Ayckbourn presents extracts of his favourite readings to an audience at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough; and Mark Lawson finds out how Ayckbourn manages to be so prolific in a special edition of Front Row (Radio 4).

There will also be a Night Waves special (Radio 3) and, over on Radio 7, there's a chance to hear Ayckbourn's masterful trilogy, The Norman Conquests, as well as Just Between Ourselves and Things We Do For Love.

Alfred Molina, Joanne Whalley, Julian Sands and Adam Godley star in A Small Family Business on Radio 3 (12 April). From small, seemingly insignificant acts, the gradual corruption of an entire family and their business echoes today's current economic and financial state in this darkly prescient comedy. Businessman Jack McCracken (Alfred Molina) is, at the start, a truly honest man but the subsequent compromises he is forced to make gradually destroy those he wanted to protect.

Radio 3's Night Waves: Landmarks (13 April) explores Sir Alan Ayckbourn's most famous work, the 1974 trilogy The Norman Conquests. Matthew Sweet and guests ask if Ayckbourn has been unfairly sidelined from the pantheon of theatrical heavyweights and examine the playwright's craft.

Radio 4's Saturday Play, Man Of The Moment (11 April), is Ayckbourn's prophetic and wildly funny play which examines the cult of celebrity and reality television. Vic Parks (Tim Piggott Smith), a failed criminal turned television celebrity, agrees to appear on a reality show with Douglas Beechey (Alex Jennings), the unassuming bank clerk who foiled the robbery. But the documentary starts to free-fall and events take an extraordinary turn.

In Radio 4's With Great Pleasure (2 April), Ayckbourn presents extracts of his favourite readings to a home audience at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where he was Artistic Director from 1972 until earlier this year. His readings demonstrate his unapologetic love of humour as a response to the human condition. Extracts include Winnie The Pooh, one of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales and PG Wodehouse. Movingly, Ayckbourn also pays tribute to Harold Pinter, whose play, The Caretaker, he once acted in.

On Radio 7, there's a rare chance to hear Ayckbourn's trilogy, The Norman Conquests (12, 19, 26 April) where the three plays – Table Manners, Living Together and Round And Round The Garden – unravel the events and tangled relationships of a single weekend from different rooms in the same country house. Starring Robin Herford and Diane Bull, it all begins one summer's evening in the country where there's about to be a shocking revelation about Annie, Norman and the hearth rug.

There's also an opportunity to hear Ayckbourn's bitter sweet comedy about love, relationships and marriage, Just Between Ourselves (5 April), which stars Peter Vaughan and Nigel Anthony; and his play, Things We Do For Love (3 May), where two best friends are reunited, one single and the other engaged – the farce that follows surprises them both.

Notes to Editors

Drama on 3: A Small Family Business, Radio 3, Sunday 12 April at 8.00pm

Night Waves, Radio 3, Monday 13 April at 9.00pm

Saturday Play: Man Of The Moment, Radio 4, Saturday 11 April at 2.30pm

With Great Pleasure, Radio 4, Thursday 2 April at 11.30am

Just Between Ourselves, Radio 7, Sunday 5 April at 1.00pm

The Norman Conquests, Radio 7, Sunday 12, Sunday 19 and Sunday 26 April at 1.00pm

Things We Do For Love, Radio 7, Sunday 3 May, 1.00pm

LH/VW