A rare Ayckbourn tour-de-force comes to the Questors with two plays, which will be performed simultaneously, with cast members running between theatres.

Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden is a test of teamwork and timing as one cast appears in both plays and the audience watches one at a time, in any order. Sir Alan said: "The idea is that the actors are playing a scene in one play: a chaps says: 'I'm taking the dog for a walk,' and goes out through the door, and then a few seconds later he turns up in the other auditorium, saying: 'Come along, boy!’"

So, with one cast running back and forth, and with only 90 seconds between some exits and entrances, the plays need to be timed to perfection.

Alan Ayckbourn wrote it for his home theatre, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and thought it would never be performed anywhere else as it required two theatre spaces very close to each other.

However The National Theatre staged the ‘double’ play in 2000 between the Lyttleton and the Olivier and now the Questors’ unique adjoining spaces make the perfect venue.

Questors actors are rising to the challenge – practising by running between two rehearsal rooms that are the farthest apart at the theatre in Mattock Lane, Ealing. The directors thought it would be good practice for timing as the real distance between the theatres is actually less.

As well as the cast, everything else is also in twos: two directors, two stage management teams and lighting and sound operators. Design for the show is headed by the cream of Questors set design, lighting, sound, props and costume experts.

Director Pam Redrup said: "The first thing I did was to time the walk between the stage of the Playhouse and the Studio and realised, 'yes, we can do it'!

"I knew we needed to rehearse both plays simultaneously from an early stage so I needed someone to direct with me. It's very much two plays even though they are inextricably linked and the cast needed to get used to the idea that their 'lives' continued on another stage.

"The challenge has been split-second timing and not confusing the cast with different direction. But thanks to a great stage management team and the fact Lucy and I had the same vision and have complemented each other in directing styles, this has been exciting and rewarding."

Fellow associate director Lucy Aley-Parker agreed, saying: "I was thrilled to accept Pam's invitation to help with directing the plays. We have both been involved in both plays and communicated well thoughout. To divide direction between the two plays would have been a huge mistake as the characters have to be consistent. You don't change your whole personality just because you pop into your garden."

The action in Garden (in The Questors’ Playhouse) takes place in the lower meadow, behind the 'formal' garden of House (played out in The Questors' Studio) and taking place in a ground-floor sitting room.

You can just see one play, but there's a discount if you book both. House and Garden is at the Questors from October 30 November 9. Full details and online booking at ealingtheatre.com. or you can call the box office on 020 8567 5184.