''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 non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

London in 2010, directed by

Jeremy Herrin Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director. He is the artistic director of Headlong Theatre. Career Having trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Herrin was an assistant director ...

Plot

In a suburban home in Surrey, 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 television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, ...

'' 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. 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 appl ...

in 2009 with

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 an English 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 Histo ...

Gina McKee Georgina "Gina" 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'' ...

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 1985 or 1986) 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 Y ...

. The play then received its premier at the upstairs

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

Shannon Tarbet Shannon Tarbet (born 27 October 1991) is a British actress who has transitioned from an extensive career in theatre to feature film with main roles in '' Love Is Blind'' (2019) and '' Love Sarah'' (2020), and on television with recurring roles ...

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 Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to Eng ...

James McArdle James John McArdle (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor from Glasgow. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in '' Platonov'' and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for p ...

, Aisling Loftus,

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, director and writer. She is known for her roles as Mary Hawkins in the Starz series '' Outlander'' and Sarah Jessica Parker's daughter in the comedy film '' All Roads Lead to Rome''. She starred as Tina Pem ...

, Jordan Loughran and

Yasmin Paige Yasmin, Yasmine, or Yasmina may refer to: People * Yasmin (given name), a feminine given name, and sometimes surname * Yasmin (musician) (born 1993), English singer, songwriter, and DJ * Yasmine (pornographic actress), Yasmine Lafitte, French ac ...

. 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 The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground statio ...

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 ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' and commentary by Dominic Cavendish of the '' Daily Telegraph'':

''"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 theat ...

best new play award, and Reiss won both the

Critics' Circle Theatre Award The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, originally called ''Drama'' Theatre Awards up to 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, ar ...

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 Standar ...

for Most Promising Playwright.Most Promising Playwright Award

and

were nominated for Outstanding Newcomer and

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