The Unfriend

The Unfriend
Written by	Steven Moffat
Characters	Debbie Elsa Peter Rosie The Neighbour PC Junkin Alex
Date premiered	21 May 2022
Place premiered	Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Original language	English

The Unfriend is a play written by Steven Moffat. The plot centres on suburban couple Peter and Debbie, whose polite invitation to a stranger on holiday has dire consequences.

Production

The play was due to premiere at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester as part of the 2020 Festival. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the play was postponed to 2022.^[1] The play began previews on 21 May 2022, with a press night on 26 May. It ended its planned limited run on 9 July 2022. The play is directed by Mark Gatiss (in his directorial debut), designed by Robert Jones, lighting design by Mark Henderson and starring Amanda Abbington, Frances Barber and Reece Shearsmith.^[2][3]

The playtext was published by Nick Hern Books on 26 May 2021.^[4]

The Unfriend transferred to the West End, opening at the Criterion Theatre on 19 January 2023, following previews from 15 January.^[5] It played a limited run to 16 April 2023, with the original cast from Chichester all returning.

In July 2023, it was announced the play would return for another West End run at the Wyndham's Theatre, starring Lee Mack, Sarah Alexander and Frances Barber returning as Elsa, with performances between 16 December 2023 and 9 March 2024.^[6]

Cast and characters

Character	Chichester	West End	West End Remount[7]
	2022	2023
Debbie	Amanda Abbington		Sarah Alexander
Elsa	Frances Barber
Peter	Reece Shearsmith		Lee Mack
Rosie	Maddie Holliday
The Neighbour	Michael Simkins		Nick Sampson
PC Junkin	Marcus Onilude		Muzz Khan
Alex	Gabriel Howell		Jem Matthews

Critical reception

The Chichester production of the play received positive reviews from WhatsOnStage.com,^[8] The Daily Telegraph,^[9] The Stage and The Guardian.^[10]

Timeout magazine described the West End production as "Waffly, unfocused and above all, bland".^[11]

References

1. Supercool (2021-06-15). "The Unfriend". Chichester Festival Theatre. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
2. "Steven Moffat writes play inspired by perils of holiday friendship". the Guardian. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
3. "Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are working together again – but rule out doing Frankenstein". Radio Times. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
4. "The Unfriend". Nick Hern Books. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
5. "The Unfriend to transfer to the West End | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
6. "The Unfriend to return to the West End with Lee Mack". 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
7. "The full cast is announced for THE UNFRIEND's return to the West End". www.londonboxoffice.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
8. "The Unfriend at Chichester Festival Theatre – review | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
9. Cavendish, Dominic (2022-05-26). "The Unfriend, Chichester, review: is Steven Moffat the new Alan Ayckbourn?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
10. "The Unfriend review – manners can be the death of you in Steven Moffat's comedy". the Guardian. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
11. "The Unfriend review: reasonably diverting dark comedy from Steven Moffat".