The Girl Next Door: Facts

The Girl Next Door

Play Number: 85
World Premiere: 8 June 2021
Venue: Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

Premiere Staging: In-the-round

Published: Samuel French
Other Media: Film

Cast: 2m / 2f
Run Time: 2hrs
The Girl Next Door is Alan Ayckbourn's 85th play.
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.
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