LIKE many pre-teens, Delilah Evans enjoys High School Musical, swim parties and eyeing up the lodger.

Growing up in a suburban home in Surrey, she is about to turn 13 - but as an infidelity is exposed and her parents start throwing verbal grenades at one another, they fail to notice their 21-year-old tenant starting to notice Delilah too.

This is Spur of the Moment, the funny, fast and brilliantly written debut play by Anya Reiss, who was just 17 when she created it. The play, to be performed by Quirky Bird Theatre at the Shoebox Theatre tonight, looks at the distance between close family relations, and the turmoil of a young girl on the brink of adolescence.

Spur of the Moment premiered at the Royal Court in 2009, winning Reiss awards for Most Promising Playwright and Best New Play. It also gained plaudits from the Observer, which described it as “the most accomplished debut from a young playwright,” and the Telegraph, which opined it was “a blistering indictment of the way we live, parent and grow to maturity.”

Quirky Bird Theatre, run by artistic director Anna Friend, is an award-winning theatre company which now tours schools and colleges across the UK.

“We have a number of strands of activities, and each year I do a main company production, usually with adults and young actors,” Anna said.

“Usually this is a more developed piece, which calls for a lot of challenging work, and a naturalistic style.”

Previous productions have included That Face and Tusk Tusk, both by Polly Stenham.

The seven-strong cast in tonight’s performance have been rehearsing together for five weeks.

“We started in November, but we had a cast change in February and had a bit of time off. We then got a new member in a new role, and started again five weeks ago. It’s been a short and intensive turn-around.”

The play’s first night was Wednesday, when the performance was followed by a Q&A with students from New College.

The play begins at 7.30pm tonight at the Shoebox in Theatre Square, Swindon. Tickets are £10, concessions £8. It is suitable for audience members aged 13 plus, as it contains occasional strong language and scenes containing implied sexual contact. To book, visit shoeboxtheatre.org.uk.