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Playwright Lucy Kirkwood on her novel approach to gauging criticism

Broadway debut: Lucy Kirkwood's the Children opened this week: David Fisher/REX
Broadway debut: Lucy Kirkwood's the Children opened this week: David Fisher/REX

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood has revealed her new technique for gauging the success of her plays — lurking in New York taxi queues.

Kirkwood made her Broadway debut this week as her play The Children transferred to Samuel J Friedman Theatre in Manhattan from the Royal Court.

She attended every single preview in New York when she would eavesdrop on audiences waiting for cabs after the show.

Kirkwood, 34, who has previously admitted to listening to conversations in theatre lavatories to measure the success of her productions, said the verdict on the play has so far been “good”.

She told the Standard: “Here I do it less in the loos and more in the taxi queue outside. People are often standing on the kerb trying to hail their taxis.” But, she says, sitting with an audience is the “best litmus test”.

Kirkwood, who grew up in east London and now lives in East Anglia, said: “I’ve sat in every single preview, and you can feel it in the auditorium.

“It’s like an orchestral score. There are points where you know they’re definitely going to respond… and nights where you go, oh they haven’t — what’s the reason for that?”

The Children, which was nominated for Best Play at this month’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards, explores the effects of climate change and was inspired in part by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The three-person cast stars Francesca Annis, Ron Cook and Deborah Findlay.

Kirkwood said she intended the play to prompt dialogue, adding: “You get lots of conversation starting [after the play] and that’s all you ever want really.”

Kirkwood said Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement has only increased the play’s relevance since its London run last year.

“I think those questions are really acute over here right now.”