"Identical - The Musical"

Nottingham Playhouse.

"Identical" tells the story of twin girls separated at birth and reunited by chance at a summer camp ten years later. To get to know their parents and reconcile the two halves of their family, they decide to swap places and live each other’s lives. The musical is based on the 1961 film "The Parent Trap" which starred Hayley Mills and remade in 1998 starring Lindsay Lohan. The original film was based on the 1949 Erich Kastner's novel "Lisa and Lottie".

There are some legendary names behind this musical including Sir Trevor Nunn, who directed this; for anyone who does not know of Trevor, he is known for directing some of the most well-known musicals the stage has ever seen, "Cats", "Les Miserables", "Starlight Express", "Sunset Boulevard" to name a few.

"Identical" has music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who were responsible for "Honk" as well as the recent musical revivals of "Mary Poppins" and "Kipps".

Another well-known name involved is Producer Kenny Wax. The production is co-produced with The Nottingham Playhouse.

Initially the two ten-year-old girls do not get on while at Summer Camp, due to their uncanny resemblance to the other, but over a short period of time they form a bond and realise that they are actually twin sisters and that their parents, Lisalotte and Johan, separated when they were babies and each parent took one of the twins. They decide that they wanted to each get to know the missing parent so switch places when it's time to go back home, with the hope of getting the two estranged parents to reunite. But things do not go as smoothly as the twins would like.

The cast are Emily Tierney (Lisalotte), James Darch (Johan), Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson (Miss Gerlach), Louise Gold (Rosa/Miss Methusius), Michael Smith-Stewart (Dr Strobel), David Bardsley (Franz/Mr Bernau), Rosie Glossop (Miss Linekogel/Ensemble), Dominic Adam Griffin (Handsome Climber/Ensemble)Ellie Nunn (Miss Ulrike), Winter Jarrett-Glasspool/Parrine Long ( Steffi), Daisy Jeffcoate/Poppy Pawson (Gerda), Isabelle Larrey (Brigitte/Annie), Saffie Layla/Helena Middleton (Truda) and Kirsten Muzvuru (Brigitte).

The rest of the ensemble consist of Rico Bakker, Hannah Cauchl, Paige Fenlon, Jordan Isaac and Rutendo Mushonga. Plus, an ensemble of 28 local children!

The twins are played by Kyla and Nicole Fox, with two other sets of twins, Eden and Emme Patrick and Savannah and Sienna Robinson sharing the roles. The Fox twins were magnificent, and this is the kind of musical that really highlights the talents of the younger actor. There were many times, especially near the start when the children were the only ones on stage for quite a length of time, and to control the stage as they did showed great maturity as a young actor, sorry actors.

It also surprised me to hear the quality of their vocal abilities, as matching in maturity as their acting abilities. This is particularly highlighted in the Act Two duet between Lottie - or was it Lisa - and Miss Gerlach - the ballet dancer fiancée of Johan in "What He Doesn't Need".

There are many things I loved about this new musical, and one of them was the revealing of the back story as to how the separation of the twins, and the breakdown of the marriage came about as Lisalotte and Lisa - or was it Lotte - went on a camping trip; combining two more marvellous songs "The Great Outdoors" and "We Were Young".

The obvious chemistry between the twins need not be mentioned but there is also a lovely chemistry between the twins and Johan and Lisalotte, and the twins and Rosa, Johan's housekeeper. Again, this could be testament to the twins' natural acting abilities. When they went in for hugs with their parents and Rosa, they looked like they were hugging someone they loved, not staged at all like I have seen some young actors portray.

One of the other things that I absolutely loved about this staging was the set design and the video design. I think since lockdown started and ended the quality of video design in the theatre has sky rocketed. The definition and quality is unreal, in fact it looks very real. Practically three dimensional real. It was like looking at an outside scene but through triple glazed windows as the clarity, visually was amazing, you just couldn't hear anything through those windows.

It was like watching a film as one scene segued into another with the change of the design with moving cars, trams, people, trees that swayed in the wind, boats that sailed by. The fluidity of the scenes was so smooth and at times it felt like you were on a ride with the cinematic scenery sweeping past you - not for anyone who suffers from motion sickness! The cinematic element also worked really well in the split screen segment at the cafe and the railway station when the twins returned back to their parents from camp.

This is one of the best combined set and video designs I've seen and hats off to Douglas O Connell for the video design and Robert Jones for the set design.

I also ought to mention the lighting design of Johanna Town and the Sound Design of Paul gatehouse as well which when combined with the above, created something very special.

Matt Cole's choreography is also something special. From the beautiful ballet scene to the ballroom dancing, there was not a foot put wrong anywhere.

Musical Director is Tamara Saringer. There has always been a certain clarity acoustically at the Playhouse, and I have always thought that they ought to stage more musicals due to the wonderful sound that is produced. This lovely soundtrack, which is beautifully old fashioned and bears the hallmarks of Stiles and Drewe's work was lovingly reproduced by Tamara's eight piece band.

"Identical" has that lovely old fashioned, Sunday afternoon movie feel about it. It's very comfortable to watch, very inoffensive, and sometimes you need something of this calibre just to kick back to and let the niceness wash over you.

It is very sweet; sugary enough to bring on tooth decay, but what the heck! I was asked if this was the best musical that I had seen and I answered "no". It's not the best musical but it is a sweet little, albeit long musical with some earworm songs and some excellent acting, dancing and singing, not to mention the brilliant videography, and it's one that you should tick off your list of theatre must sees.

If I am to be honest, I did think that it was just a bit too long, almost three hours with the interval, but where to cut it, I ask myself?

"Identical - The Musical" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until Sunday 14 August.

 "Spider's Web" by Agatha Christie performed by Tabs Productions.

Nottingham Theatre Royal

The second play of the Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season 2022 is the classic Agatha Christie murder mystery, "Spider's Web", Christie's second longest running play; I'm sure I don't need to tell you the name of the longest running thriller from the Mistress of murder mystery!

Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, the wife of a Foreign Office diplomat, is given to daydreaming and playing a game called "Supposing". "Supposing I were to come down one morning and find a dead body in the library, what should I do?" she muses. Well, many a muse said in jest as Clarissa has her chance to find out when she discovers a body in the drawing-room of Copplestone Court, her house in Kent.

Desperate to dispose of the body before her husband comes home with an important foreign politician, Clarissa persuades her three house guests to become accessories and accomplices. It seems that the murdered man was not unknown to certain members of the house party (but which ones?), and the search begins for the murderer and the motive, while at the same time trying to persuade a police inspector that there has been no murder at all.

Lara Lemon, as Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, gets to use her feminine ways to manipulate the men around her into doing what she wants them to do, but it does not work on all the males in play. Clarissa has motive, as well as the means, and is good at covering her emotions and spinning a few good yarns. Could she really have done the dastardly deed? the play is set in the early 1950s and I love all of the melodrama with Clarissa and she has enough red herrings to open her own fish shop. You can really tell that the lovely Lara Lemon is loving playing this character.

John Lyons plays Sir Roland Delahaye, Clarissa is Delahaye's ward. In the past I've seen John play detectives on stage, and you will recognise him from "A Touch Of Frost" as George Toolan alongside Sir David Jason, but John is not just George, or Father Brown on stage. Here he plays an accomplice to Clarissa's notion of disposing the body. John is the consummate professional and his easy-going charm offstage transcends to the stage, and even when his character starts to show signs of worry over the decision to hide the body, the smoothness is ever present. Christie was a brilliant writer for injecting humour into the most ridiculous of situations, and Sir Roland Delahaye gets to deliver some wonderfully comic lines in the face of absurdity.

Andrew Ryan (Hugo Birch), and in another change of character; so often we see Andrew play the bad guy, this role sees Andrew not in control of the wrong doings and looking decidedly unnerved. Whatever role Andrew plays, he always delivers a quality performance and you feel the nervousness of the character through the performance.

Chris Brookes (Jeremy Warrender) is another name that will be well known to the Colin McIntyre Thriller Season shows. Here Chris plays a likeable young man, who has caught the eye of Clarissa, and he takes much of what Clarissa says as gospel (ish). This is shown by one of the opening scenes where he is speed testing something that Clarissa had told him. Slightly geeky, but in an upper-class way, and a little bit nervy. Both Jeremy and Hugo are in favour of assisting Clarissa's disposal of the body, whereas Roly takes a bit more convincing that this is the right thing to do.

Juliette Strobel (Pippa Hailsham-Brown) actually morphs into a young child in this play. I had to double glance at Juliette because she completely looks the right age for the character. Sometimes make up can give the impression of a younger character but this character looked not to have needed any help at all. This shows what a wonderful, and observant character actor Juliette is, because the physicality of the role also lends itself to that younger appearance. Pippa is afraid that she has murdered someone, but is she just dreaming or could it be witchcraft at play?

Susan Earnshaw (Mildred Peake). Can I say what a massive fan of Susan's I am. Every role Susan plays is, for me, brilliantly executed. This particular role is of a lady gardener, who does not get on with everyone in the house. There seems to be an extra amount of Y chromosomes coursing through those veins, giving her a more masculine, and stronger ability, or could it just be all that fresh air and gardening? Mildred is strong; strong enough to take down anyone who she takes a dislike to, and all that humping great sacks of vegetables may stand her in good stead... if called upon!

Jeremy Lloyd-Thomas (Elgin, The Butler), and while this is not a major role, it provides another possibility to consider as the murderer. Why did he and his wife really return home from the cinema? There could be a simple explanation, another red herring maybe? A classy performance from Mr Lloyd-Thomas.

John Goodrum (Oliver Costello), now here is an interesting character. He is now married to Clarissa's husband's ex-wife and so straight away there is a feeling of ill will, especially as there seems to be possible blackmail afoot, or is that just hearsay from listening at keyholes from someone else? Pippa certainly does not like him, and neither does Clarissa. Henry, Clarissa's now husband is not aware of his visit to the home, but why is he really there at all? John is a very agile actor, proven by the several stage falls he has to perform in this play. There are several people who do not like Oliver, but enough to kill him?

David Osmond (Henry Hailsham-Brown), and we don't see an awful lot of David in this play as Henry has to pop off to pick up the important foreign politician from the airport, so is off stage for a while, but as we don't actually see the murder, or the murderer, could this be explained away by the absence of stage time? Loved the upper-class accent and poise of this well-heeled Foreign Office Diplomat, which was well brought out by Mr Osmond.

George Telfer (Inspector Lord) makes an excellent policeman. He is commanding and likes to get down to the nitty gritty of solving the murder, all the while seemingly playing both bad cop, as well as good cop to try and work out why the man was murdered and by whom. While on stage, George stamped his authority as the man of the law, efficiently making sure that the suspects were directed to where he wanted them to be, and you could see him working the clues out in his head, all the while giving nothing away.

Ed Telfer (Constable Jones) gets to join his Dad (in real life) on stage as a Welsh, young "bobby". What I found really interesting about this character, and ed, was that, while the character is a secondary character, you need to watch his mannerisms because Ed has a very visual way of acting, even when he is not the main focus. His physicality is a comical masterclass for a secondary character; his stride across the stage, his facial nuances, his stance, his almost accidental outbursts of emotional recognition are all perfected. Many people will always focus on what is right in front of their eyes, but watching background characters can be so rewarding where comedy creeps in, and can so easily be missed. These tiny observations for an actor is testament to an intuitive actor as well as the Director who will also recognise this.

Directed by Karen Henson, well everything Karen touches is golden whether she directs or acts, and I love how Karen pays attention to the small things as well as the major things, and that is why Karen, in my mind, is one of the best directors for thrillers as well as comedy theatre. She knows what's what!

The set design is by Sarah Wynne-Kordass, assisted by Matt Sykes-Hooban and Duncan Hands. I acknowledged to Karen that this set was beautifully grand, and that the back projection, through the stately glass doors looked as if you could just go strolling out and wander to the golf course just past the green lawns visible through the windows; it was that realistic. Detail is another thing that Sarah pays close attention to, another reason why the Classic Thriller Season sets are always a delight to drink in.

Sound Design by David Gilbrook and Lighting Design by Michael Donoghue. I was commenting in the bar afterwards that if you have no comments on the sound or light, that everything has gone according to plan, especially when there is no need to draw attention to anything as part of the play. David and Michael always create realistic lighting and sound designs which have no need to be loud or flashy, and in that sense, they did everything that was needed to create a natural aural and visual setting. Top marks as always.

Agatha Christie writes some wordy pieces, there are several sections in this play. She also writes with great humour and Tabs casts bring out the farce in this thriller, as well as creating sufficient amount of tension in the build-up to revealing who the actual murderer was, and their motive, and when the reveal comes, it really did come as a surprise. It will keep you guessing right to the end.

Christie fans and thriller lovers, in fact fans of well executed theatre are going to love this production, and here's a fact for you; "Spider's Web" was first debuted at the Nottingham Theatre Royal in 1954. It's been back since but it's so good to have Tabs produce this classy interpretation for your thrilling delectation. 

"Spider's Web" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 6 August.

 "Billy Elliot"

Leicester Curve

This musical has evaded me for so long, mainly because the size of the stage needed to produce this show on has to be large, so it's not often that it's in the area for me to go and see. Today, I ticked this one off of the list. I'd only been to The Curve at Leicester once previously, and that was to see my eldest son graduate, so this is the first time that I have seen a theatrical production staged here, as well as the first time seeing this amazing and emotional musical.

I have seen the Steven Daldry 2000 film several times, starring Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, and love the story, which takes on a whole new life on stage; it lives and breathes, it pirouettes into your heart. It's pure electricity.

This is a "Made at Curve" production, which has been directed by Nikolai Foster and choreographed by Lucy Hind. The soundtrack by Sir Elton John and Lee Hall, who also wrote the book. The children starring in this production are also locally sourced, which is a massive boost for local talent.

It's set in 1984/85 smack in the middle of the miner's strike in County Durham. Most lads of Billy's age are into football or boxing, but Billy has found a love of ballet, something his dad is dead set against, but Billy is determined to see this through with typical Northern grit. He, quite by accident, finds himself in the middle of a bunch of young girls in ballet class, and from there on gets the ballet bug, returning the following week, to discover that he has a talent for dance.

All this in the middle of a national mining strike, where the male population do not do ballet, they fight and box and go down the mines, and also the finances are not even there to put food on the table, never mind pay for the bus fare to London to audition for the Royal Ballet School!

This was particularly emotional for me as I am the son of a Nottinghamshire miner and can remember the strikes and how hard it was for my father to go to work throughout the strike, just to pay for my elder sister's wedding, all the while losing some lifelong friends in the process by working through and defying the strikers. I know how hard this period was, and this brought back the feelings of the period.

Joe Caffrey plays Billy's grieving and angry father. The family had recently lost a mother and wife, which is reflected in the highly emotive song "The Letter", which hits hard for anyone who has lost a mother or a wife. The anger is obvious and so is the lashing out, but the U turn regarding what his youngest son wants is incredibly life affirming for carrying on what his wife and Billy's mother would have chosen, even in the hard times. Played with great passion by Joe.

Luke Baker as the elder son, Tony, also turns in an emotive and passionate performance, especially where he turns against his father's wishes to return to work.

Billy's Grandmother is played by Rachel Izen, who has a theatrical CV as long as your arm. Rachel only gets to sing one song in this musical, but what a song. "Grandma's Song" is yet another emotive song, although at first listen would not seem so, but take a proper listen to those lyrics. Grandma suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and berates her late husband, who at first she had forgotten that he had passed. During this piece the young "grandfather" dances in the background quite beautifully. Louie Wood is the dancer.

Mrs Wilkinson, the ballet teacher, is played by Sally Ann Triplett. I loved Julie Walters in the film role and I can see a lot of Walters in this role, probably unintentional. Sally Ann's performance as the hard-nosed, Northern gritty ballet teacher with her potty mouth around the kids is softened right at the end when her emotional side peeps through the armour as Billy gives her a hug and tells her that he would not have been able to do it without her help. What a wonderful character, and played wonderfully by Sally Ann.

Mrs Wilkinson's daughter, Debbie, in this performance is played by Pearl Ball, who is making her professional debut here. There is a scene where she is chatting to Billy in his room where she asks if he likes her; the next sentence even shocked me! All the child actors in this show acted as if this were an everyday thing for them. No signs of nerves, only extreme confidence from everyone, never phased by the large audience, not to mention the vast staging!

Jaden Shentall-Lee, who I saw this afternoon, shares the spotlight throughout the run at Curve with Samuel Newby, Leo Hollingsworth and Alfie Napolitano as Billy, and I am sure that he was aware that he had big ballet pumps to fill, especially when you look at the previous "Billys" that had gone before him. From the confidence that oozed from his performance on stage, it seems that he has not let anything bother him where Jamie Bell et al pas de deux'd before him. The ending of Act One, "The Angry Dance", was performed with great drama, as was the "Electricity" set.

There is absolutely no denying this young man can dance and has attitude, and looking at Jaden's CV for stage work, he has worked hard to get to where he is at the moment. I was thinking on the train home that if this is the standard of dance and drama he is showing at his tender age, what will he be like in ten years' time!

Billy's best friend, Michael, is played by Prem Masini. This chemistry between the two young lads is pure magical as Michael encourages Billy to follow his dream, despite what anyone else may think of it, or Billy. I loved the scene where Billy finds Michael dressed in his sister's clothes and the dance number that goes along with this, "Expressing Yourself". The end where Billy gives Michael a peck on the cheek and then runs back to give him a massive hug is also one of the most emotive scenes played out between these two young and talented actors.

Jessica Daley does an amazing job playing Billy's late mother, who still manages to guide his hand - and foot. The song "The Letter", which is a song between Billy and his late mother, when seen performed on stage seems to take on a whole new feeling and emotion to when just listening to the soundtrack at home.

There are two teams of Ballet Girls and Boxing Boys, and the team that I saw this afternoon were Team Donnini. Whether you get to see Team Donnini or Team Dennis, you'll be in for a treat whichever way. Both teams are made up of some outstanding talented young people. Rahul Gandabhai, who plays the "posh boy" shows that he knows how to take a stage punch, delivered by Jaden, and both making it look really realistic.

The Set Design, by Michael Taylor, shows why this show can only be produced at certain theatres nationwide. It's enormous! It was like having Cinemascope on stage. Not only was the set wide, it was tall as well; no wonder audiences return again and again to see this show because they would see something that they may have missed in previous visits.

There are four fences which at one stage created a metal cage where Billy danced on a raised platform. This made me think that Billy was himself in a cage while the rest of the world fought outside of his personal cage, separated and in his own small world of dance. It also created walls for the boxing gym, dance class, picket lines and enclosed the mine shaft lift which raised and lowered. This was particularly affective in the end scene when the miners disappeared underground, singing as they went, with only the feint glow of their miner's lamps on their helmets to show that they had been there at all.

The tower, on three levels acted as Billy's home and was moved smoothly from the back of the stage to central position when needed, keeping centre stage free for all the other action.

The Lighting Design, by Ben Cracknell, and Sound Design by Adam Fisher were sensational. With such a large stage, there was a lot of lighting design to show, and it felt like I'd visited the West End production. This goes to show that Leicester Curve are really on a par with their Southern counterparts where creating great theatre is concerned. Visually this is a vivid experience.

The Sound Design was perfectly pitched, although there was just one section where Debbie's mic seemed not to have been faded up near the start, that was not repeated, so was rapidly sorted.

I didn't even notice the on-stage band until they were acknowledged by the cast at the end. With a stage and venue this large, there could have been a possibility of the sound mix being just a little overpowering, but that was not the case. It was loud enough for everyone to hear comfortably with crystal clarity, making this musical an aural enjoyment on every level.

I used the adjective "gritty" earlier and this really is. The language is earthy, and used by the adults as well as the children, and this is why there is an age limit attached to this show. The language injects a true sense of realism into this musical, never shying away from that initial "shock" factor. I must admit I was taken aback by the language used so liberally by the younger actors, but soon settled into the naturalism of the language.

If, like me, you'd never seen this musical on stage, go and see it. Go and see this production, even if you have seen a previous production, as I have been told that there have been several changes and adaptations to this production. I only have this one to compare future productions to, but I think that any future ones I see will have to really pull something just as spectacular out of the bag to match this one.

I can see why so many people return to see this show, and I'll be with them. My debut Curve Theatre stage production has been a real pleasure and I do hope that it won't be too long before I get to replicate the pleasure of such a beautiful theatre experience.

"Billy Elliott" is at The Curve in Leicester until Saturday 20 August.

 "People" by Alan Bennett

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

So, we come to the end of the season, it doesn't seem that long ago since we were welcoming the new season, but they do say that time flies when you're having fun. This season closes on a cracker, Alan Bennett's "People", a play I've not seen before.

Lady Dorothy Stacpoole is fighting against plans by her younger sister June to donate the families once grand country estate, Stacpoole House, to the National Trust as they can no longer afford to maintain it. Lady Dorothy however has other ideas from selling it to a questionable commercial concern, possibly moving it to Dorset or perhaps Wiltshire, to renting it out to an old flame as a location for dubious films, both seeming more appealing than having people traipsing through the property.

Dorothy hates the idea of crowds tramping through her lifelong home, and hates the idea that it may be turned into a museum by the National Trust.

June is an ambitious archdeacon at the local cathedral, with one eye on the bishop's job. In Ralph Lumsden, the man from the National Trust, she senses a kindred spirit, and a possible step up.

The play opens with Dorothy and her companion Iris, sitting in clothes that had seen better days, in front of an old electric heater, living out of one room of the once splendid house. Dorothy shows a man, Bevan, around with the prospect of either an attic sale or buying the property lock, stock and barrel and relocating, brick by brick to a "better" part of the country. This was all supposed to be a secret from June, who discovers what Dorothy has been doing as she arrives just as he is leaving. And so the story begins.....

June (Carol Parkinson) reminds me just ever so slightly of a masculine Geraldine from The Vicar Of Dibley, with plenty of dashing around trying to secure the transfer to the National Trust. She is practical but isn’t really a people person and thinks men, including the Archbishop are useless.

Dorothy (Amanda Pearce) is a woman who has lost all zest for life. There is a glimmer of her old modelling days though when she takes a small part in the film that is being made at the place, and that zest reappears slightly, helped by an old flame, Theodore and Louise, the production assistant. Although not antisocial, she rarely ventures out and longs for hot water and central heating, or even an en-suite.

Iris (Hazel Salisbury) gets her fair share of Bennett's witty lines in a fine display of character acting by Hazel. And there's a twist revelation to come with Iris right at the end to look out for. She is quite child-like, especially with her honesty, and appears to be slightly on the dim side, but underneath that facade, she has lost none of her marbles.

Bevan (Chris Sims) is not quite as straight forward as he first sees, but then again, he is an estate agent. On his second visit there is a twist to Bevan which changes everything about his first visit. Complete with camel coat he floats the idea of selling the house to a mysterious organisation called "The Concern" who want to preserve the past but keep people out. But don't forget there is a twist!

Lumsden (Richard Fife) is the man from The National Trust and very business-like as he moves through the country pile, relating how the Trust can preserve everything, something that Dorothy is against as she lets him know of its faults, which only excites Lumsden even more.

Bishop (Jim Brooks) has just had a new pair of bifocals and is getting used to them, which is impairing his vision. Just as well, as he is shown around mid-way through the filming that is taking place! There is a Bennett nod to the "Carry On" films in this scene.

Theodore (Richard Young) is Dorothy's old flame who makes adult films. He charms her and gets what he needs - the location - and then sails out of her life as fast as he swept in.

Bruce (Fraser Wanless) is the "slightly" camp Mr Fix It within the film crew, who just seems to want to be in and out of there as soon as possible! He does however fix the heating and like things to be clean and tidy.

Louise (Liza Pybus) is the production assistant, who makes Dorothy feel cared for after many years of being a recluse. There is a lovely, and quite touching bit at the end where Louise returns to the house after it's been done up and gives Dorothy a little present. In return, Dorothy also presents her with a little something.

Nigel (Jack Leo) is the assistant film director who is on hand to help the film's star, Colin raise his game with a natural remedy.

Colin (Matthew Thomason) is the male star of the film but has issues rising to the occasion. The scenes which are being filmed in the play are done in the best possible taste, although you do get to see a little more of Matthew than you've possibly ever seen on stage before! The accent is great as well.

Brit (Evangelia Angelinou) is the Latvian female co-star of the film that is being made at the property, constantly mocking Colin's short comings.

A brilliant exhibition of ensemble acting.

Directed by Helen Sharp, this is a pacy and very witty presentation of a play that is not often seen. Don't know why, it's as good as anything else Mr Bennett has penned. There is a lovely comical scene regarding a room full of chamber pots, which we don't see, but the whole descriptiveness of that room is priceless.

Max Bromley's set design is definitely a visual feast. From the dilapidated and mouldy walls through to its rejuvenation of regal splendour, the set is a real beauty.

Lighting Design is by Hugh Philip and Sound Design by Jordan Gibb. Both areas perfectly executed.

There were a few prompts at the start of the play, one even coming from another on stage actor, but Bennett's plays can be wordy.

"People" will be at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 23 July.