Timeline
The Timeline offers a chronological view of significant events in the history of the play How The Other Half Loves; it only lists major productions and does not include the vast majority of the many professional and amateur productions of the play.29 March 1967: Relatively Speaking premieres at The Duke Of York’s Theatre, London, directed by Robin Midgley.
13 July 1967: The Sparrow premieres at Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre, Scarborough, directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
5 October 1967: The death of Stephen Joseph, founder of Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre and Alan Ayckbourn's most influential mentor.
December 1968: Alan Ayckbourn appointed Director Of Productions at Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre for the 1969 summer season.
30 January 1969: The Stage newspaper announces Alan Ayckbourn will write an as yet untitled play for the summer season at Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre.
23 June 1969: Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre opens its summer season with the new Ayckbourn play still untitled.
3 July 1969: The Stage newspaper announces the title of Alan Ayckbourn's latest play as How The Other Half Loves.
Circa 7 July 1969: Alan Ayckbourn begins to write How The Other Half Loves, a week prior to rehearsals starting.
Circa 14 July (possibly 21 July) 1969: Rehearsals begin for How The Other Half Loves.
31 July 1969: How The Other Half Loves premieres at Theatre In The Round At The Library Theatre directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
19 March 1970: How The Other Half Loves opens at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, directed by Robin Midgley. It is intended to act as a West End try-out.
23 June 1970: How The Other Half Loves pre-West End tour opens at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, directed by Robin Midgley. No one else involved in the Leicester West End try-out is involved in this production.
5 August 1970: How The Other Half Loves opens at the Lyric Theatre, London, directed by Robin Midgley and starring Robert Morley as Frank; Morley's involvement bowdlerises the play and effectively makes it a star vehicle and in no way representative of the play Alan Ayckbourn wrote.
29 March 1971: How The Other Half Loves opens at the Royale Theatre, New York, directed by Gene Saks and starring Phil Silvers as Frank. This production features an 'Americanised' version of the script.
26 June 1971: How The Other Half Loves closes at the Royale Theatre, New York.
1971: How The Other Half Loves published in the USA by Samuel French; this is the 'Americanised' version of the text.
30 September 1972: How The Other Half Loves closes at the Lyric Theatre, London, having run for 869 performances.
4 October 1972: The West End production of How The Other Half Loves tours to Canada and Australia.
Late 1972: How The Other Half Loves published in the UK by Evans.
13 March 1973: First How The Other Half Loves UK tour, produced by Bill Kenwright, opens at the Theatre Royal Windsor.
March 1973: How The Other Half Loves released to repertory theatres.
1974: By the end of 1974, there have been professional international productions of How The Other Half Loves in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany - a major tour also visiting Austria and Switzerland, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, North America, Portugal and Yugoslavia.
5 April 1976: The Actors Company presents How The Other Half Loves at Wimbledon Theatre, directed by Kim Grant; critically acclaimed it is regarded as the production which transforms perception of the play and undoes much of the damage done by Robert Morley's original West End production.
4 February 1988: How The Other Half Loves revived at Greenwich Theatre, directed by Alan Strachan.
14 June 1988: The Greenwich production transfers to The Duke Of York’s Theatre, London - the first Ayckbourn play to be revived in the West End.
November 1993: An off-Broadway production of How The Other Half Loves by the York Theatre Company at St Peter's Church marks the first time the original British text is used for a New York production of the play.
7 August 2007: The Peter Hall Company’s revival of How The Other Half Loves, directed by Alan Strachan, opens at the Theatre Royal, Bath, before touring.
4 June 2009: Alan Ayckbourn revives How The Other Half Loves at the Stephen Joseph Theatre to mark the play's 40th anniversary.
23 March 2016: How The Other Half Loves revived at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, directed by Alan Strachan.
25 June 2016: How The Other Half Loves closes at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, prior to a transfer to The Duke Of York's Theatre.
7 July 2016: How The Other Half Loves transfers from the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, to The Duke of York's Theatre, London, for an extended twelve week run.
1 October 2016: How The Other Half Loves closes at The Duke of York's Theatre, London.
30 August 2017: A major UK tour of How The Other Half Loves, directed by Alan Strachan, opens at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, closing on 2 December.
31 July 2019: How The Other Half Loves celebrates its 50th anniversary.
29 July 2026: Revival of How The Other Half Loves at The Old Vic, London, directed by Phillip Breen, with the West End's first in-the-round production of the play as originally written.
19 September 2026: How The Other Half Loves closes at The Old Vic; the production is one of the most acclaimed West End revivals of an Ayckbourn play this century.
© Simon Murgatroyd