The House They Grew Up In (NHB Modern Plays)

The present day. A residential street in South East London. The house where reclusive siblings Peppy and Daniel were born is now stuffed full of everything they have ever owned. This hoard, their eccentric appearance and rampant garden hedge, set them conspicuously apart from others on their road. When young Ben visits from next door he is simply looking for friendship; but what happens next challenges everyone's idea of neighbourliness. The House They Grew Up In is a tender, dark and funny look at a co-dependent relationship between a brother and a sister, and how they cope when the world bursts in on them. It explores how, in an age of anxiety, we live alongside those different to us. Premiered at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in July 2017.

Deborah Bruce is a writer and theatre director. Her plays include The Distance (a finalist for the 2012-13 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Godchild at Hampstead Theatre and Same for the National Theatre Connections Festival 2014.