''Visitors'' is a play by the English playwright

Barney Norris Barney Norris, (born 1987) is a British writer. Early life Norris was born in Chichester in West Sussex, later moving to Wiltshire where he attended Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. He read English at Keble College, Oxford, and creative ...

. The play premiered at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalst ...

in London in March 2014, in a production directed by Alice Hamilton. It was produced by Norris and Hamilton's company

Up In Arms ''Up in Arms'' is a 1944 musical film directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore. It was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1945. Plot Danny Weems works as an elevator operator in a New York Medical building, so he can b ...

. The cast included

Linda Bassett Linda Bassett (born 4 February 1950) is an English actress. Her television credits include Victoria Wood's ''Dinnerladies (TV series), dinnerladies'' (1999), ''Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series), Lark Rise to Candleford'' (2008–11), ''Grandma' ...

Robin Soans Robin Soans (born 20 June 1946) is a British actor, and a playwright specialising in verbatim and documentary plays. These plays include ''Across the Divide'' (2007); ''A State Affair'' (2000) which looked at life on a Bradford estate, produced ...

, Eleanor Wyld and

Simon Muller Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

. The play revolves around an elderly couple who live on a farm on

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

, and explores their relationships with each other, their son, and a young carer. The play received widespread acclaim from theatre critics at the Arcola, on a national tour and following its transfer to the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

in winter 2014, and was selected by

Henry Hitchings Henry Hitchings (born 11 December 1974) is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history. The second of his books, ''The Secret Life of Words: How English Beca ...

for the ''Evening Standard'' and

Mark Lawson Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author. Specialising in culture and the arts, he is best known for presenting the flagship BBC Radio 4 arts programme ''Front Row (radio programme), Front Row'' between 1998 and 2014. ...

for the ''Guardian'' as one of the best productions of 2014. The play won the

Critics' Circle 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 OffWestEnd Award for Most Promising Playwright for Norris, and the OffWestEnd Award and BritishTheatre.com Award for Best Actress for Linda Bassett. Norris was also nominated for the

Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...

Best New Play Award, and the

Evening Standard Theatre Awards 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 ...

Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the production received nominations for Best Actor for Robin Soans, Best Director for Alice Hamilton and Best New Play from the Offies Awards.Offies
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References

English plays 2014 plays {{2010s-play-stub