Sir Alan Ayckbourn has launched a savage attack on West End theatre producers over the number of celebrities they recruit and the way his latest work was treated.
The leading playwright said he may never stage another of his works in the West End and attacked producers who cast famous people rather than putting on "proper plays with proper actors".
Madonna was singled out for particular criticism for her recent performance in Up for Grabs . Sir Alan said it would have been better if she had been treated as a silent work of art. Sir Alan, 63, said: "You might as well have her on a stage eating a plate of spaghetti." He added: "These celebrities can't do it. They all get ill or lose their voices after 20 minutes and you're left with the understudy. And at least it's a proper understudy."
Among the celebrities to perform in the West End recently are Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Woody Harrelson.
Sir Alan's latest play, a trilogy called Damsels in Distress, won rave reviews from critics. But its producers decided to stage only the first part, Role Play, on weekdays and all three only on Saturdays, rather than alternating between them.
The decision, made without consulting Sir Alan, meant the other two parts would rarely be seen. Sir Alan said they had been "condemned to the dustbin".
Speaking last night at an Orange Word lecture at the Apollo Theatre, Sir Alan described London's commercial theatre as "ossified, lethargic and incapable of producing new work". Sir Alan premieres his plays in Scarborough.
