Irish Musical to Be Staged at the Tabard Theatre

Next Door's Baby is based in Dublin in the fifties

The O'Brien Family in rehearsals
The O'Brien Family in rehearsals

April 28, 2023

The first musical to be staged at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick since it was under new management is to be Next Door’s Baby by Matthew Strachan and Bernie Gaughan

Featuring a cast of eight, it opens on Thursday 4 May for a four-week run until Saturday 27 May having first been performed at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2008. This new production is a revival directed by Keith Strachan.

In 1950’s Dublin and two families living in adjoining terraced houses become locked in a bitter matriarchal feud about a Bonny Baby competition run by the local newspaper.

Mrs O’Brien is widowed, hard-up, but ferociously proud of her five children; Dickie, Orla, Sheila, Larry and little Conor, the baby who will put their name in lights. She is icily polite to ‘her next door’, Mrs Hennessy, whose lifestyle is one of ease.

Against a traditionally Irish backdrop, where respectability is all and you judge a woman by the dazzling whiteness of her net curtains, each family nurses a secret; one that could unite them or tear them apart. It’s only on the eve of the Bonny Baby final that we discover their fate.

The cast includes former World Champion Irish Dancer Hayley-Jo Murphy who plays ’Sheila’ as well as choreographing the show. The remaining cast of 8 are Jackie Pulford, Abigail Williams, Ben Hannigan, Amber Deasy, Logan McQuillan, Shaylyn Gibson and Sam Woodhams.

Director Keith Strachan has worked extensively in theatre and television as director, musical director, arranger and composer. His theatre credits, as director, include Dreamboats & Petticoats (West End and National Tour), Save The Last Dance For Me (National Tour), Laughter In The Rain (National Tour), Dancing In The Streets (West End and National Tour) Elvis The Musical (West End and National Tour) and Tommy (National Tour).

The Hennessy Family in rehearsals
The Hennessy Family in rehearsals

Book writer Bernie Gaughan is an English author of popular women's fiction. Her Irish background is often incorporated into her writing, particularly in the semi-autobiographical musical Next Door’s Baby. Prior to becoming an author, Bernie worked in the media as a radio advertising producer and subsequently as an agent for voiceover artists. Her first novel, The Reluctant Landlady, was published in 2004. Since then, she has published three further novels with the same publisher. In 2009, her fifth book, How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life, followed in 2010 by Why Do We Have to Live with Men?, were both published by Little, Brown.

former World Champion Irish Dancer Hayley-Jo Murphy
Former World Champion Irish Dancer Hayley-Jo Murphy

The remaining Creative Team includes Beth Jerem as Musical Director, Hazel Owen as Designer and Alice McNicholas as Costume Designer.

The production runs for two hours including an interval and tickets are on sale for £19.50 - £23.50.

You can book all productions online on the Tabard Theatre web site or call the box office on 020 8995 6035 (leave a message if you can’t get through and your call will be returned).

Theatre at the Tabard is at 2 Bath Road, Chiswick (W4 1LW).

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.