The Girl Next Door: Facts
The Girl Next Door
Play Number: 85World Premiere: 8 June 2021
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Premiere Staging: In-the-round
Published: Samuel French
Other Media: Streaming
Cast: 2m / 2f
Run Time: 2hrs
Synopsis: A lockdown love story about the ability of love to rise above adversity and reach across the generations. During the 2020 lockdown, an actor discovers his next door neighbour is living through the Blitz of 1942.
○ The play premiered on 8 June 2021 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
○ The Girl Next Door was the first of several plays to be written by Alan Ayckbourn during the 2020 UK lockdown. The small cast reflected Alan's belief that theatres would only be able to use small companies upon re-opening.
○ It was the first Ayckbourn play to be premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre with a complete support 'bubble' company. In the event of any of the actors testing positive for COVID, an entirely separate company directed by SJT Associate Director Chelsey Gillard was on standby to take over performances.
○ It is a play in which the characters experience both 2020, when the UK was locked down, and 1942 during World War II. Alan has previously written several time-jumping plays including Communicating Doors, Miss Yesterday, Surprises and Whenever.
○ The play stares the same cast requirements as Relatively Speaking as Alan Ayckbourn initially wrote it with the possibility it could run in repertory with a revival of Relatively Speaking.
○ The original production was recorded and streamed online from 28 June to 3 July and 1 to 18 September 2021, marking the first time an Ayckbourn production directed by Alan Ayckbourn himself had been streamed.
○ The production was the first since Private Fears in Public Places in 2005 to be brought back to the Stephen Joseph Theatre after its initial run. It returned for a week to the venue during September 2021.
Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without the permission of the copyright holder.