Article: Ayckbourn savages West End 'star' plays.

Byline: HUMFREY HUNTER

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 ...

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