In 1998 Michael Frayn had his first original play, Copenhagen, staged at the Royal National Theatre on London's south bank. This production was not the first time his work had been seen at the prestigious theater, as several of Frayn's adaptations of the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's work had preceded Copenhagen. It was, however, an acknowledgment of Frayn's status as a major playwright. He is now, along with writers such as Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Alan Ayckbourn, one of the stalwarts of a new mainstream tradition. Frayn has five Evening Standard Awards (1976, 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1998); two Society of West End Theatre Awards (1976 and 1982); and the Olivier Award in 1984. His work is frequently revived in both the professional and the amateur theater and has been performed around the world.

During the 1980s Frayn developed from a minor stage writer to a figure of immense importance. In an Observer article (8 December 1985), following...