"Notes From A Small Island" by Bill Bryson, adapted by Tim Whitnall.

Riverside Drama Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Recently there seems to be quite a few plays that are being performed locally that I've either not heard of or ever seen, and this is another one. This is great for me, and anyone else who likes discovering theatrical gems, such as this play.

It's 1973, Bill, a young man from Des Moines, Iowa, has arrived on the ferry at Dover. He intends to conquer the whole of the island, like Caesar attempted before him.

But Caesar didn't have to deal with counterpanes, kippers, Cadbury's Curly Wurlies, or Mrs Smegma the landlady's eccentric house rules. As Bill travels the length and breadth of Britain, through villages with names like Titsey and Little Dribbling, something strange starts to happen. Can it be true? Is he really starting to feel at home?

Travelling across time and space from the seventies to the nineties, this is a whistle stop tour of British culture through the eyes of an American who begins to ask why does a nation that produced Marmite, Gardeners Question Time and people who say "Ooh lovely" when they have a cup of tea, hold such a special place in his American heart?

Act One is his initial visit to the UK with Act Two revisiting the visit for his writing of the book, which is where this play is spawned from.

A dozen actors portray around eighty odd various characters with just the one constant in Bryson's role.

Jonathan Greaves, who looks remarkably like comedian Greg Davies, plays Bill Bryson. This is one hell of a role for Jonathan as he is on stage practically all of the time and also has the bulk of the script to recall, and he keeps the American accent throughout. Wonderfully funny and brilliantly entertaining. His story-telling is second to none and does it in such a way that you can't help but hang on to every word that Bryson has written. Jonathan is also the Assistant Director for this play.

Donna Osmond, Helen Newham, Lizzie Norris, Liz Turner, Moya Magee, John Sully, Jane Harris, John Hurley, Dave Round, Dave Wilson, James Haigh and Keith Salway complete the cast.

The whole cast are wonderfully versatile in the characters that they play, and there are some brilliant stand out performances.

Lizzie's wonderful Mrs Smegma with her rules regarding the two toilets, breakfast cards, counterpanes, coming in late (after 10pm) and water use is brilliantly observed and written, and Lizzie is an excellent character actor, and delivers the script with just the right amount of acidity.

Jane Harris's Cinema Usherette with the 3 pence snacks and 10 pence drinks (well it is 1973) announcements as if on a tedious loop is wonderfully monotonous.

John Hurley's Sir David Attenborough sections really did sound like Sir David, and it's not every day that you get to play God, now is it?

Dave Round corners the "nerd" characters perfectly, as well as the slightly perverse.

Dave Wilson's Rabbie Burns provided just one of the best accents of the night, and this production is a real accent fest, which I loved.

As I said, each actor play several roles and as Bryson, Brydon, Brysdon, Brylcreem (it was rare for the characters to get his name right, but they are British and Bryson is American), penned his observations about the various regions of England, Scotland and Wales, the regional accents were in abundance. The archetypal Geordie accent from Lizzie, John S, Jane and Dave R was wonderfully over the top. The Scottish accents were differentiated by the softer Edinburgh brogue and the more angry sounding Glasgow one, and the lovely sing-song Welsh accent. These plus the various other regional accents were well executed.

There's also  a band of singers who make a few appearances throughout ( I wonder if this is where "Family Guy" got the inspiration from with their acapella/barbershop group inserts). Donna, Liz, Jane, John H, Dave R and James made up the barbershop style group.

Directed by Celia Billau, this is a really fast paced production, the story telling is natural and the comedy is rapid fire. You can tell that Liz is a fan of Bryson and his book because that love for this novel shines throughout the production. Celia is also responsible for the backdrop projections which transport you around the country and also helps with moving the story on.

Set design is by Bob Baron. The only props permanently on stage were a garden bench and a table and chairs set. various other smaller props were brought on, and off stage, which kept everything simple and left everything uncluttered.

The lighting design, by Rob Osmond and Dave Martin, is simple but you need nothing more than simple lighting, so it works well. 

The Sound is by Keith Salway and Celia Billau, and the sound effects are almost like another cast member as there are so many and so well executed; the timing is perfect and really add to this production.

There are about as many costumes as there are characters, thanks to Janet Whyatt and Mina Holtom, but my favourite has to be that wonderful gold lame jacket.

This show is a perfect example of character acting, pace and timing, carried out by a group of very talented actors. It's very funny; funnier than I had expected it to be to be honest, but then again, I'd never really heard of Bill Bryson, or read his books, but I think Riverside may just have converted me, and I'll now be looking out for his books when perusing the charity shops!

"Notes From A Small Island" is at the Duchess Theatre until Saturday 16 November. Tickets though have nearly sold out, and after tonight, I can understand why.