Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club stages Ayckbourn's Neighbourhood Watch at CryerArts, Carshalton, 24 to 27 November at 7.45pm. Tickets £16, its 326th production.

A thrown garden gnome sets off the trouble in Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club’s next play, Alan Ayckbourn’s Neighbourhood Watch, which runs for four nights at the CryerArts Centre in Carshalton from Tuesday 24 November.

It is the club’s 326th production, and it opens at 7.45pm each night, with tickets at £16 on the club’s box office. The club calls it Ayckbourn’s 75th play.

The details
When Tuesday 24 to Friday 27 November 2026, 7.45pm
Where CryerArts Centre, 39 High Street, Carshalton SM5 3BB
Tickets £16 from TicketSource
Director Brian Aris

What the play is about

In the club’s own words:

“Brother and sister, Martin and Hilda Massie, live together leading a quiet, Christian existence in the confines of the Bluebell Hill Development. Just as they are preparing for a housewarming gathering, their peace is shattered by a young trespasser in their garden.

“The Massies’ neighbours congregate in their living room and together they agree to form a neighbourhood watch group to safeguard against further incidents.

“But after the Massies’ beloved garden gnome Monty is thrown through their window, matters swiftly escalate, complicated by Martin’s burgeoning romance with Amy, wife of Gareth, who was formerly involved with Luther, husband of Magda. What begins as a well-intentioned scheme for a safer community ends in anything but….”

The club’s invitation is to “join SADC for their 326th production in your local neighbourhood!”

Yellow poster for Neighbourhood Watch by Alan Ayckbourn, showing two garden gnomes, the dates 24 to 27 November 2026 at 7.45pm and the CryerArts Centre address
The club's poster for the play, which prints an £18 ticket; the club and its box office now give £16. Image: supplied by Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club

The poster carries a line from The Guardian calling the play “a cracking good Ayckbourn”.

The director

Brian Aris directed the club’s Alys, Always at the Adrian Mann Theatre in March 2024, which the club describes as a very successful production. “This play is a little different from Brian’s last one, but will keep you guessing what will happen next, in just the same way,” it says.

A woman in a houndstooth top sips red wine in a red armchair while a man beside her rests his chin on his hand, on a dark stage with sunflowers in a vase between them
A scene from the club's production of Honour. Photo: supplied by Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club

The club behind it

The club dates from 1902, when two rival Sutton groups merged, and says it has been in existence longer than any other amateur drama group in the London suburbs. It is a registered charity and stages three productions a year, in March, June and November.

It invites a professional critic to each production. Theo Spring wrote of its last play, Honour, that the cast and director “achieved riveting, high class theatrical entertainment”.

A woman in a blue spotted dress pours from a small jug beside a smiling woman in a beige suit, both seated in red armchairs on stage
Another scene from Honour. Photo: supplied by Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club

What it means for you

  • Book online until two hours before curtain-up. The box office closes then. Tickets may still be available at the theatre from half an hour before the start.
  • Check the content note. The club’s box office says the play “may contain adult themes and strong language”.
  • Fancy having a go yourself? The club’s next Let’s Act! workshop, on acting for the camera, is on Wednesday 18 November, 8pm to 10pm, in the rehearsal room at CryerArts. No experience is needed. It is free to members with up-to-date membership and to over-18s trying it for the first time; others pay £3.
  • More at the same address. The club returns to CryerArts with Colder Than Here by Laura Wade from 16 to 19 March 2027. Other local dates are in our what’s on guide and pantomime guide.

Sources