Matthew Cottle and Frances Grey in Neighbourhood Watch - photo by Karl Andre Photography

CURTAINS will be twitching when Alan Ayckbourn’s latest work, Neighbourhood Watch, comes to Cambridge.

Popular playwright Ayckbourn is celebrating his 75th birthday by directing the play himself, and he will be overseeing a cast that includes some of his frequent collaborators: Alexandra Mathie, Terence Booth and Matthew Cottle.

Known for his numerous plays over the decades Ayckbourn has received his fair share of awards including the Critic’s Circle Award for Service to the Arts in 2010 and he was the first British playwright to be honoured with Oliver and Tony Lifetime Achievement awards.

Neighbourhood Watch sees siblings Martin and Hilda settle into a new community at The Bluebell Development and throw a house-warming party to get to know their neighbours.

They are forewarned of the dangers surrounding the local council estate; theft, petty crime and vandalism may be some of the concerns for those living in suburbia and certainly a topic for any Neighbourhood Watch group. At The Bluebell Development, there’s more cause for concern than a lot of communities may expect.

Some call it ‘gnomicide’ when the gnome belonging to Martin is needlessly assaulted. He finds himself declaring war by taking the law into his own hands, meaning what started out as a Neighbourhood Watch group with good intentions takes a sinister turn.

Neighbourhood Watch runs at the Cambridge Arts Theatre from Monday, January 30 - Saturday, February 4. Shows start at 7.45pm, with 2.30pm matinees on Thursday and Saturday. For tickets, call 01223 503333 or visit www.cambridgeartstheatre.com