Miriam Margolyes’ star turn the black comedy Neighbourhood Watch has helped the State Theatre Company of South Australia set a new box office record.

The play, written by young Australian playwright Lally Katz and currently playing at Adelaide’s Dunstan Playhouse, has become the highest-grossing production in the company’s history.

It has already grossed more than $400,000, with more than 10,000 people seeing the show during its three-week season.

“It’s wonderful to see the company’s box office results going from strength to strength in 2014, following a sold-out season of The Seagull and a near sell-out of our season of The Long Way Home,” CEO/producer Rob Brookman said in a statement.

“It is especially exciting that this box office record has been set by a recent Australian work.”

The strong demand has prompted the company to add an extra performance at 2pm on May 24 for the show, which centres on the unlikely friendship between a cantankerous 80-year-old Hungarian-Australian widow (played by Margolyes) and her young aspiring actress neighbour Catherine (Eleanor Stankiewicz).

The play was originally presented by Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre, with the State Theatre of SA production being directed by Julian Meyrick.

Brookman said the State Theatre also recorded a 15 per cent growth in season subscriptions from 2013 to 2014.

Click here to read InDaily’s review of Neighbourhood Watch, and here to read Julian Meyrick’s article about the creative partnerships that helped bring it to fruition.