Simon Murgatroyd M.A.

A Round Town is administered by Alan Ayckbourn's Archivist, historian and professional writer Simon Murgatroyd M.A. It is a project which has been inspired by his life-time passion for theatre in the round in Scarborough and the work of Alan Ayckbourn and his mentor, Stephen Joseph.

Simon has been Sir Alan Ayckbourn's Archivist since 2003 and is the creator and curator of the playwright's official website, www.alanayckbourn.net; this is regarded as the single largest and most comprehensive website in the world dedicated to a living playwright with more than 3,500 pages on the playwright and his plays.

He is a theatre historian with a specialism in Alan Ayckbourn and the first five decades of theatre in the round in Scarborough when it was based in its first two homes at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round as well as the company's founder, Stephen Joseph. Between 2003 and 2022, he was also the archivist for the Stephen Joseph Theatre.

As a professional writer, Simon began his professional career as a journalist for the Scarborough Evening News. Subsequently, his articles on Alan Ayckbourn have been published in programmes for the world, West End and New York premieres of the playwright's work. He has had theatre articles published in the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. He is the author of the book Unseen Ayckbourn, which was named as one of The Stage's best theatre books of 2013 and has subsequently gone through a number of revised editions.

Since 2022, Simon has been engaging in regular public talks about the cultural heritage and legacy of theatre in the round, Stephen Joseph and Alan Ayckbourn to Scarborough. It is a subject he is passionate about and from this, this website has developed and grown.

Simon's personal website can be found at www.simon-murgatroyd.com and he can also be found on social media at Instagram, YouTube and Wordpress where he highlights his own work and that of his role as Alan Ayckbourn's Archivist.

Simon can be contacted via the Contact page or visa his personal website www.simon-murgatroyd.com.

Simon Murgatroyd, June 2023