Playwright Robert Shearman to take Sir Alan Ayckbourn's Patron Spotlight at Whitby Lit Fest
Whitby Lit Fest is proud to announce award‑winning author and playwright Robert Shearman as the festival’s inaugural Patron’s Spotlight guest, selected personally by honorary patron Sir Alan Ayckbourn.
The special event will take place on Sunday November 22 at Whitby Museum, offering festivalgoers an in‑depth conversation between Shearman and Ayckbourn’s archivist, Simon Murgatroyd.
Robert Shearman’s professional journey began in the 1990s when Ayckbourn commissioned him to write for the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round after spotting his early promise as winner of the Sunday Times Playwriting Award.
His debut, White Lies, became the first of six plays premiered in Scarborough, marking the start of a prolific international career.
Ayckbourn praised Shearman’s “original, distinctive and never predictable” voice, celebrating his ability to move seamlessly between mediums—from theatre to screenwriting and award‑winning prose.
Shearman is widely known for his contributions to Doctor Who, most notably the Hugo‑nominated episode Dalek, which reintroduced the iconic villains to a new generation.
His audio dramas for Big Finish, including Jubilee and The Chimes of Midnight, remain fan favourites and have recently been adapted into novels for Penguin.
The event starts at 10.30am on the day.
Sir Alan said: “What unites all of Rob's writing is his voice.
"It has always been original, distinctive and never predictable.
"He is enormously talented and I'm delighted to have played an early part in his development and to see him as the first Patron Spotlight at Whitby Lit Fest."
As a prose writer, Shearman has twice won the World Fantasy Award, alongside honours such as the Shirley Jackson Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Reader’s Prize.
His ambitious three‑volume collection, We All Hear Stories in the Dark, was directly inspired by Ayckbourn’s Intimate Exchanges and showcases 100 interconnected stories navigated through reader choice.
The Patron’s Spotlight is one of more than 50 events taking place during Whitby Lit Fest, running from November 19 to 22.
At 1.30pm on the same day, Simon Murgatroyd will present Raiders of the Lost Archive, a talk exploring the recovery of Scarborough’s theatrical archive and his work on the book A Theatrical Revolution.
Both events take place at Whitby Museum.
Tickets are £7 for each event through Eventbrite.