THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

By ALAN AYCKBOURN

Placing wartime and lock-down life side by side, Alan Ayckbourn’s 85th play is a touching, tender and of course, funny, reflection on the ability of love to rise above adversity and reach across the years.

Ayckbourn, born in 1939, has said his earliest memory is of sheltering from a bombing raid and his new play makes us consider what has changed between these two moments of national crisis. Without overstating the case, he lines up the narcissism of the modern world and the sacrifice of wartime.

Veteran actor Rob Hathaway, stuck at home during the summer of 2020 with only his sensible older sister for company, has little to do but relive his glory days.

One day he spots a stranger hanging out the washing in the adjoining garden – but the neighbours haven’t been around for months.

So who is the mysterious girl next door, and why is she wearing 1940’s clothing?