"Pressure" by David Haig

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The play centres on the true story of Captain James Stagg and Operation Overlord, in particular the weather-forecasting for the D-Day landings and the tensions between Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Stagg and Irving P. Krick.

It is set in 1944 at Southwick House, the headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force in the 72-hour period leading up to the launch of Operation Overlord. Group Captain James Stagg is the chief meteorologist who, having studied weather patterns in the North Atlantic over a period of many years, is advising Dwight D. Eisenhower that, despite a prolonged heat wave, weather conditions will suddenly deteriorate sharply on D-Day, and that the massive task of landing 150,000 soldiers in occupied France should therefore be postponed.

American celebrity weatherman Irving P. Krick forecasts another calm sunny day. But Stagg is convinced that a storm is coming. Under the most intense pressure, both personal and military, Stagg seeks to persuade Eisenhower that his forecast of events is correct.

And Christ on a mountain this play is good. I love plays that educate me as well as entertain me, and this play did both, especially with the slow build-up of pressure in Act One and then the accelerating story-line in Act Two.

Pressure takes on several scenarios in this story. Be it the actual air pressure which would cause the inclement weather, or the pressure put on Stagg to get the prediction correct. And then there's the pressure Stagg feels due to his wife about to give birth, along with the back story to that as well. Throughout the play you can feel the slow increase of pressure emanating from the stage.

Alison Hope (Lieutenant Kay Summersby) played a blinder of a role as Summersby. This character is one that keeps all the balls up in the air, a juggler, looking after the needs of Eisenhower and creating just the right environment for Stagg to work in, all the while fetching and carrying, making endless cups of tea, running errands for both men, and going that extra mile to make sure that everything runs smooth. And she is a competent mechanic as well. She is the human side of the play, and you really feel for her when she is overlooked at the end. Alison is one actor you cannot overlook and was just a dream to watch perform.

Malcolm Todd (Group Captain James Stagg). There is a line in the first part of this play where Summersby asks him if he ever smiles, as he is bossing her around and complaining of the lack of facilities in his office. In Act two we all get to see that smile, and even a laugh as he relaxes when the pressure is finally released and all is well in his world. Like all the actors in this play that I have seen before, I found myself looking past the actor and seeing just the character they were playing, and that to me is a sign of great acting. And the Scottish accent never slipped once.

Chris Sims (Colonel Irving P Krick). Again, the accent was brilliant. there could be a tendency to "overdo" an American accent, depending on the state from where the accent is for, but not once did this happen with Chris. Another wonderful performance, and like Stagg, Krick shows a lot of passion shown; once I even expected the two characters to come to blows due to the passion, but that's yet another sign of that pent up pressure rising to the top, and then simmering.

John Parker (General Dwight D. 'Ike' Eisenhower). Now this character can shout! But then again, he has the licence to do just that, he is Eisenhower. there is an array of feelings displayed here, and especially at the end when my jaw literally dropped when he dropped the bombshell on Summersby. I won't say what the bombshell was, you'll have to go and see what happens yourself! John struck just the right note with this powerful man, who himself would have been under pressure with the lives off all those men in his hands.

Colin Treliving (Electrician / Admiral Sir Bertram 'Bertie' Ramsay). I actually took more notice of the electrician role with this dual role, and didn't actually realise that it was Colin who was playing the Geordie electrician. there were bits during this role that seemed to have lengthy gaps in the speeches, but then I realised that, although the electrician liked to chat, he was also concentrating on the job in hand; which was to wire in two additional phones. I did smile to myself though when he said that he had to get the right line, which may, or may not be heard in the rest of the performances. As Bertie though Colin showed authority of a higher level, in complete contrast to the lowly electrician. I've always enjoyed Colin's acting talents and this is no different.

The remaining cast consisted of John Halstead (Flight-Lieutenant Andrew Carter), Sue Drew (Lieutenant Diana Battersby), Fraser Wanless (Commander Colin Franklin / General 'Tooey' Spaatz), Jack Leo (Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory), Nick McCaffery (Captain Johns) and Stephen Herring (Corporal Hamilton). All excellent in their respective roles.

Directed by Jane Herring, who by the way has assembled an amazing cast for this show. She managed to get the pace just right to create anticipation of the outcome of the story and the build up of pressure. Production Manager is Peter Konowalik.

The set was designed by Linda Croston and possibly one of my favourite sets at the Lace Market Theatre. It was as if you had discovered a room that had been locked up as a storage place for a while. The walls were crumbling and incredibly basic, but it looked so right for the story and the era.

I looked to see if there was a name credited for the props because I imagine that, with the number of props used in this play, it would have taken a lot time of searching for everything. Barometers, bottles, tea cups, chairs, a fold up bed, tables, typewriter, phones, books, files, waste bins, charts, letters, stationery. I tried to count everything up but lost count there were so many and all appropriate for the age the play was set. Someone has worked amazingly hard to get everything together for this one.

I must also mention the incredible charts to update the weather movements they had on the wall. They were massive and so intricate, and you can see that a lot of knowledge and thought had gone into creating just one, never mind the five separate weather charts that were used.

The lighting is designed by Phillip Hogarth and the sound design is by Gareth Morris. As you'd expect, the sound and lights were both very natural, especially the sounds of the wind, tiles smashing, early morning nature sounds, telephone bells etc etc and all cued to perfection. The lighting showed us the different daylight, end evening hours so we could put ourselves in their particular time zone, as well as a frightening airplane explosion just away from the open windows.

The costumes are courtesy of Hazel Salisbury and as I'd expected were of the finest military regalia, again taking us back to the time depicted by the storyline.

I am going to be really picky here because there would be one thing that I would add to this play. Not to worry, it's only a small thing, but was something that I had expected but did not materialise. When we could see that the storm that Stagg had predicted correctly was building up, Krick went to the open full-length windows with a chart or a paper and to show that the wind was really getting up, the paperwork was swept from his hands. But there was no movement in the lace curtains, no draught, nothing. I'd have loved to have seen a fan from the wings blowing those curtains to make it look like that wind was getting up to storm level.

There was so much attention to fine detail in this play, which really brings a reality to the performance. the drink in the cups; you could not see the drink, but you heard it, and even when Summersby and Stagg were having breakfast of scrambled egg, there on the plate was scrambled egg which both characters ate. A sign of a wonderful Director to make sure that things like this are all in place.

I'd never seen this play before, but I'd gladly see it again. The story is exciting and gripping, and whoever says that the weather is boring, needs to come and see "Pressure". Educational and exciting and I shall never look at the weather people on TV in the same light again!

I've grown used to expecting excellence from the Lace Market Theatre, and this cast and production team did not disappoint.

"Pressure" is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 14 May.

Photos courtesy of Kathryn Edwards.