Frayn, Michael (1933-…), is a British playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter. He became noted for his satirical wit and his fine observation of social and cultural habits. Frayn is probably best known internationally for his popular comedy Noises Off (1982), a farce about the misadventures of a touring English theater company.
Frayn was born on Sept. 8, 1933, in London and educated at Cambridge University. Frayn first worked as a journalist on The Manchester Guardian and The Observer newspapers, gaining popularity for his gentle satirical columns. This background provided valuable material for some of his plays and books. In 1970, Frayn had his first play, The Two of Us, staged in London’s West End. He followed it with a string of successful plays, including Alphabetical Order (1975), Make and Break (1980), Benefactors (1984), Copenhagen (1998), and Democracy (2003). His novels are similarly satirical. They include The Tin Men (1965), The Russian Interpreter (1966), A Very Private Life (1968), Towards the End of the Morning (1967), The Trick of It (1989), A Landing on the Sun (1991), Now You Know (1992), Headlong (1999), Spies (2002), and Skios (2012). He has translated and adapted plays by the Russian authors Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy. He also wrote the script for the 1986 motion-picture comedy Clockwise and a series of humorous radio monologues titled Speak After the Beep. In addition, he wrote on philosophical themes in The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of the Universe (2007).
