It was the play in performance at the Royal Exchange Theatre during the 1996 Manchester bombing and the play with which the theatre reopened in December 1998 after almost two-and-a-half years of repair works following the bomb damage. Both productions were directed by Helena Kaut-Howson with Ewan Hooper as Mr Jeffcote, Sue Johnston as Mrs Jeffcote, Colin Prockter as Mr Hawthorn, Nicholas Gleaves as Alan Jeffcote and Sophie Stanton as Fanny Hawthorn. The production won a MEN Award.