''Spur of the Moment'' is the debut play from Anya Reiss, who wrote it at age 17. It premiered at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

London in 2010, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

Plot

In a suburban home in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, Delilah Evans is about to turn 13 and spends the evening singing along to ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

'' with her friends and fantasizing about the charming 21-year-old lodger, Daniel. Her parents, Nick and Vicky, are viciously arguing over Nick's affair with his older boss and consequential sacking. During a family argument on the Friday evening, Delilah kisses Daniel, without her parents' knowledge. The next day, Daniel's girlfriend Leonie has come to stay but their relationship is soon shown to be strained and is repeatedly interrupted by Delilah's friends. Delilah secretly declares her love to an appalled Daniel but when Leonie leaves the house for a while, he succumbs to temptation and passionately kisses Delilah repeatedly. Horrified by his own actions, he declares that he is a 'pathetic loser' and lists the crimes of his past including

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

. The situation deteriorates on Delilah's birthday as Daniel threatens to leave, while Delilah counters with a threat to tell her parents everything. Vicky breaks down to her daughter about the state of her marriage. Nick overhears their conversation, and he and Vicky call a temporary truce, admitting that they still love each other. Daniel is under pressure and leaves but only after Leonie has witnessed an argument between Daniel and Delilah. She demands to know what is going on from the Evans family. Delilah says she was going to lie and say that Daniel had done something to her if he decided to leave, which he was intending to do anyway, saving Daniel but appalling her family.

Characters

Premier

The play had a 20-minute reading at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

in 2009 with Jeremy Herrin directing as part of a celebration of the ''Night Less Ordinary'' under 26 ticket scheme's success. The reading featured

Russell Tovey Russell George Tovey (born 14 November 1981) is a British actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama '' Being Human'', Rudge in both the stage and film versions of '' The History ...

Gina McKee Georgina McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' (2007) ...

Simon Paisley Day Simon Paisley Day (born 13 April 1967), also credited as Simon Day, is an English stage and screen actor. His most recent work includes ''Timon of Athens'' (2008), ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' (2009), ''Private Lives'' (2010), ''Twelfth Night'' ...

and

Flora Spencer-Longhurst Flora Spencer-Longhurst (born ) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the CBBC series '' Leonardo'' (2011), and the FX series ''The Bastard Executioner'' (2015). Early life Spencer-Longhurst joined the National Youth Music Th ...

. The play then received its premier at the upstairs

in London in 2010. It was directed again by Jeremy Herrin, starring Shannon Tarbet,

Sharon Small Sharon Small is a Scottish actress known for her work in film, radio, theatre, and television. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' b ...

, Kevin Doyle, James McArdle,

Aisling Loftus Aisling Sinead Katie Loftus (born 1 September 1990) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress and first gained prominence through her roles in the BBC dramas '' Five Daughters'' (2010) and '' Dive'' (2010), the play ''Spur of ...

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, author, playwright, and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayals of Mary Hawkins in the Starz historical drama series '' Outlander'' (2016), Tina Pemberton in Sky One's comedy-drama series '' Living the D ...

, Jordan Loughran and Yasmin Paige. The play then transferred for a five-show run as part of the Royal Court's Theatre Local project at Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre at the end of August 2010. An extended sell–out at the Royal Court Theatre in London received generally favourable reviews, including 5 stars in the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' and commentary by Dominic Cavendish of the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'':

''"My jaw drops. This is the most accomplished debut from a young playwright I’ve ever had the pleasure to see ... a fresh, funny and blistering indictment of the way we live, parent and grow to maturity now. Whether you’re 17 or 70, go marvel."''

It won the 2010

TMA Awards The UK Theatre Awards, established in 1991 and known before 2011 as the TMA Awards, are presented annually by UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in regional thea ...

best new play award, and Reiss won both the

Critics' Circle Theatre Award The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, known as the Drama Theatre Awards until 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, are selec ...

and the

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standa ...

for Most Promising Playwright.Most Promising Playwright Award James McArdle and Shannon Tarbet were nominated for Outstanding Newcomer and Jeremy Herrin for Best Director at the Evening Standard Awards in 2010.

References

{{reflist 2010 plays English plays Surrey in fiction Plays set in England 2010s debut plays