Neighbourhood Watch OFF-BROADWAY REVIEWS

NY TIMES
TM
EW
NY POST
BACKSTAGE

Opening Night:: November 30, 2011
Closing:: January 1, 2012

Theater: 37 Arts Theatre / 450 West 37th Street, New York, NY, 10018

Synopsis:

Things are not right on The Bluebell Hill Development. Theft, petty crime, and vandalism--all the ills of modern suburban living--are on the rise. Newcomers Martin and his sister Hilda are the crime wave's latest victims - on the very day of their housewarming party, no less - and resolve to take action. But what starts out as a well-intentioned neighborhood watch scheme soon develops into something altogether more sinister. And hilarious.

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NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF Neighbourhood Watch

A Genteel Neck of the Woods Becomes a Genteel Fortress
Charles Isherwood

December 7, 2011: Funny, he doesn't look like a fascist. On the contrary, with his nerdy spectacles and cartoon smile, and his tendency to giggle at his own bad jokes, the mild-mannered, middle-aged Martin (Matthew Cottle) seems the kind of harmless fellow who might only cause trouble by boring you with pointless stories over the backyard shrubbery. It’s hardly surprising, really, that his prized possession is a garden gnome he’s actually named.
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THEATERMANIA REVIEW OF Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch
Andy Probst

December 8, 2011: Alan Ayckbourn blends old-fashioned sex farce antics with the sort of cautionary allegory one associates with writers like George Orwell in Neighbourhood Watch, playing at 59E59 Theaters as part of the Brits Off-Broadway festival. It's a daring combination, and while there are times when the play can feel over-written, Ayckbourn more often than not blends his hilarious comedy with his darker themes with tremendous success.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY REVIEW OF Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch
Melissa Rose Bernardo

December 8, 2011: Warning: This show contains images of graphic violence that some viewers may find disturbing — specifically, the beheading of a pint-size, pointy-hatted, bearded garden dweller named Monty, a.k.a. Montmorency. Yes, a lawn gnome comes to his gruesome, untimely demise in Alan Ayckbourn's Neighbourhood Watch, now having its U.S. premiere at Off Broadway's 59E59 Theaters through Jan. 1. Brace yourself for the ceramic carnage.
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NEW YORK POST REVIEW OF Neighbourhood Watch

Brit Ayckbourn gives us crime and fun-ishment
Elisabeth Vincentelli

December 7, 2011: To call Alan Ayckbourn prolific is an understatement. “Neighbourhood Watch,” which just opened at 59E59 Theaters, is his 75th play. And since the British master is a mere 72 and spry — he often directs his own shows, including this one — we probably have at least another dozen to look forward to.
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BACKSTAGE REVIEW OF Neighbourhood Watch

Black Watch
Erik Haagensen

December 7, 2011: Alan Ayckbourn is back in top form with the dryly hilarious “Neighbourhood Watch,” a stinging comedy that spares no one as it looks at a group of British suburbanites who decide to self-police their placid little bit of England’s “green and pleasant land” to keep out the riffraff. Directed faultlessly by its author, the show arrives from the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, England, with its incisive original cast intact, led by the brilliant Alexandra Mathie, a comic goddess if ever there was one.
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