History
Detailed History | In BriefNeighbourhood Watch is a remarkably prescient play by Alan Ayckbourn which drew comparisons to the riots which spread throughout the UK during the summer of 2011. It also became the first Ayckbourn play to transfer to both New York and London with the original cast from the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.
The play was actually a landmark as it marked both the playwright's 75th full-length play as well as - allegedly - the Stephen Joseph Theatre's 300th new play since it opened at Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre in 1955 - although it wasn't actually the 300th new play. This was Dear Uncle, Alan Ayckbourn's adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya., which ran in repertory with Neighbourhood Watch. However, for publicity reasons, Neighbourhood Watch was instead publicised as the 300th new play at the SJT.
Neighbourhood Watch was commissioned in 2010 and Alan had a far larger concept for the play initially in mind than that which was eventually written. Given it was his 75th play, he had hopes for more of a piece of event theatre. However, with the implication in 2010 that major cuts in art funding in the UK were looming, Alan approached the Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre to suggest a scaled down play both in terms of size and budget, which was readily agreed to.
The playwright's notes held in the Ayckbourn Archive at the Borthwick Institute For Archives give some insight into his original idea for the play, which is essentially the same as the final play but with a slightly broadened scope. This is most clearly seen in that the cast of eight was to originally play 16 characters with every actor doubling up roles; the playwright later admitted that most of this was to add texture and colour and the eight additional characters did not make a significant difference to the overall plot.
The central characters of brother and sister Martin and Hilda Massie were considerably different though as the then Martin Krark was conceived as fiercely right-wing, which - combined with his deeply religious sister - made them 'a dangerous combination'. He also originally intended that they had 'a dark childhood, a domineering father and a submissive mother.' As it is, although Hilda's religious views remain intact, Martin's character is far less strident and much more sympathetic and there is no hint of a dark background; in fact, the playwright goes out of his way to make them both light and playful characters to begin with.
Within the play, there is also a ninth character of sorts. A golden, life-sized gnome called Montmorency. When quizzed, Alan attributed the name to writings by either Belloc or A.A. Milne; in actual fact, the name features in neither author's identified work. More likely it was inspired by the fox terrier in Jerome K Jerome's Three Men In a Boat, which the playwright was familiar with. Montmorency the gnome also had a twin when the practicalities of transferring the production to New York became apparent alongside the tight schedule for the productions. As a result, two of the massive polystyrene gnomes were created for the Scarborough production and its quick transfer. The understudy gnome was later auctioned and apparently now resides in a kitchen in Huddersfield.
The relationship between Martin and his sister, Hilda, in the early scenes of the play was also inspired by the television and radio sitcom Marriage Lines according to the playwright. This show, which ran on BBC1 from 1961 to 1966 and on BBC Radio from 1965 to 1967, starred Richard Briers and Prunella Scales as a newly married couple; although Martin and Hilda obviously are not in the same kind of relationship, Alan wanted a similar light and silly relationship before the play turns darker and the relationship becomes more strained.
Alan began writing the play during October 2010 and it was finished during the first week of November. Unhappy with the first act when completed, he went back and completely revised it before completing the play; sadly no copy of the excised first act survives in archive. Once written, Alan felt the play was one of his darker pieces in tone and that it reflected his perceived apprehension in society about the possible breakdown of law and order. Obviously written far in advance of any of the later events it would become associated with, it came to be perceived to be unintentionally - and perhaps alarmingly - prescient.
The play was built around a cast of eight as the Stephen Joseph Theatre had decided to stage Neighbourhood Watch in repertory with the world premiere of Dear Uncle with both plays sharing the same company. This marked the first time there was a specific Ayckbourn company at the venue since Alan had retired as Artistic Director in April 2009.
Rehearsals began in August 2011 and, just as they began, the UK was hit by a surprise and shocking series of riots in major UK cities; these five days marked one of the largest civil disturbances in recent memory in the UK. The pertinency of the play, opening so soon after the riots and with its coincidental theme, was swiftly picked up and covered by the media - although Alan was quick to point out it would be disingenuous to suggest the play was in any way inspired or influenced by real events given it was written nine months before the riots took place.
Neighbourhood Watch opened at the Stephen Joseph Theatre on 8 September 2011 and It received uniformly excellent reviews. Even the one dissenting voice, Sam Marlowe of The Times, largely applauded the production - The Times lead critic Libby Purves would later praise the play when it reached London. The prescience of Alan's subject was generally noted alongside the excellence of his acting company, with several critics writing the play marked a return to some of Alan's blackest comedy.
The play was also featured heavily in the BBC arts documentary series Imagine to mark the playwright's long career and 75th play. Broadcast on 16 November 2011, the documentary featured a number of filmed extracts from Neighbourhood Watch. This included, much to the annoyance of Alan, the final scene of the play which included a major spoiler; at the time of broadcast the play was still being performed in New York with a UK tour and London transfer to follow.
On 12 July 2011, it was announced on the BBC that Neighbourhood Watch would also tour to New York, where it would be the third of Alan Ayckbourn's play to receive its American premiere at the Brits Off Broadway festival at the 59E59 Theaters. This would mark the quickest transfer of an Ayckbourn play to New York following its world premiere.
Following a short in-the-round tour, Neighbourhood Watch transferred to the 59E59 Theaters on 30 November 2011 and ran until 1 January. The play was well-received, although not as critically successful as his previous plays presented at the festival. On 24 November 2011, it was announced the play's 2012 UK tour would conclude with a month-long residency at the Tricycle Theatre in London.
Neighbourhood Watch opened at the Tricycle Theatre on 11 April 2012 - not long after the venue's acclaimed production of Gillian Slovo's play The Riots, which examined the 2011 riots from the perspective of first hand reportage. Significantly, this marked the first time since Private Fears In Public Places (2004) in 2005 that a new Alan Ayckbourn play had transferred to London.
Whilst in London, the world premiere production reached its 200th production on 25 April 2012; a rarity in that figure was reached with the same company which launched the play eight months earlier. The production was again well-received and ended a remarkable year for Alan's 75th play.
Intriguingly, Neighbourhood Watch almost also became a movie by the French film auteur Alain Resnais - who adapted three of Ayckbourn's plays for film. When Resnais was considering his next movie in 2013, he decided upon either Alan's plays Neighbourhood Watch or Life of Riley (2010). He decided to go with Life Of Riley in the end with a significant reason for the choice being the concept of neighbourhood watch groups was, apparently at the time, not a familiar one in France.
Neighbourhood Watch was published in 2013 by Samuel French and by Faber in 2018 in the collection Alan Ayckbourn: Plays 6. It has subsequently proved to be one of his most popular written since 2010 with professional and amateur productions around d the country.
Indeed, as of writing, its popularity seems to be only increasing - perhaps a reflection the play was not just prescient of the London riots of 2011, but the direction the entire country was going in subsequent years.
© Simon Murgatroyd (Updated 2026)