"The Park Bench" by Ashley Burgoyne.

The Watson Players.

Shakespeare House, Derby.

I know a couple of people who will only go and see plays that they know. That being the case, if they, like myself, had never heard of this play previously, decided to not see "The Park Bench", they would be missing out on a real gem of a production.

Charles always shared the same bench in the park with his wife. Now Charles is alone, with only his memories of Rose sitting on the other end of the bench, until various people start to share the bench with him. These people may, or may not, be the cause of Charles misplacing something. Was it misplaced, or was it stolen? And who are the two mysterious people constantly checking their mobile phones and looking furtive?

First off let me say that the writing for this play is absolutely beautiful. The characters are all beautifully created and the storyline is gentle but immensely captivating. Who'd have thought that a play set around a bench in a park could be as imaginative and fascinating as this one.

Karen Jones plays Tina, and Colin, Tina's Geocoaching partner, is played by James Ash. For those who do not know, and I had never heard of this until this play, Geocoaching uses a GPS-enabled device or smartphone, you then navigate to specific sets of coordinates to find hidden containers, known as "caches." Karen has a history of playing half of very entertaining double acts, and between Karen and James, they create another memorable comedy duo. Tina and Colin become a vital piece of the jigsaw to resolving the mystery of the missing money.

Ian is an Office Manager and played by Ryan Barber. Ian often takes a walk in the park to eat his lunch away from the office, and one day decides to sit next to Charles on the park bench. The two quickly become quite friendly and share details of their lives, which is where the story starts and the mystery begins. the introduction, by phone by Ian of his wife to Charles is a lovely comic piece, and the explanation of Ian and Linda's current marital issues via a debate in the office is a very clever, and funny example of wordplay within the script.

Linda is Ian's wife and is played by a new member of The Watson Players, Bekki Armstrong. Linda starts off not trusting of Ian after an incident at an office Christmas party, but throughout the play, and with a little help from Charles, Linda and Ian get their relationship back on track. With that issue sorted, Linda and Ian turn their attention to help Charles with his mystery. Bekki is not new to the stage, only new to The Watson Players, and a welcome and lovely addition to the group.

Stacey, the single mother who gets baby Jim to sleep by doing laps around the park in his pram, is played by Ciara Beighton. When we first see Stacey and Ian in the park there's another example of clever writing when two separate telephone conversations are combined to produce a lovely example of two one sided conversations creating a comedy scene all of its' own. Stacey starts off a very different person to the finale of the play, but this is because of a stereotypical image of some single mothers, but the more we get to know her, and with a little help from Linda, we discover a different side to her character.

Another new member of The Watson Players is Michael Smith who plays Charles, the widow who often visits the park bench to talk to his late wife, Rose. The most gentlest of characters and Michael brings that gentleness and human edge of the story to the stage. There's an edge of que sera sera to the events that surround Charles; he is always ready to help others with a kind word or piece of advice, and that is what attracts the audience to this lovely warm-hearted man. He expects nothing in return, but when he shares with Ian about certain events that happened at the scene of the park bench, good karma comes around.

Michael is a wonderful find because his acting is so natural. It's almost as if he wasn't acting or performing a script, it was like he was just chatting off the cuff. This is one very laid back gentleman of a performer.

The brilliantly entertaining Park Bench Ensemble consisted of Georgia Barkes, Lisa Griffin, Mel Pugh, Bayleigh Watson and Adam Thornewill, who gets to show off the best legs on a man I've seen for a long while.

Directed by Nigel Taylor this is a wonderful production of a play. The gentle pace of the play and the development of these characters from start to end is so lovely. The pace really helps to connect all of the jigsaw piece characters to come together to make the full picture of the mystery whole. The scene changes have a life of their own, and when you see that the only thing to centre the story around is a park bench, you may think that the scene changes themselves would be quick and simple. Not so, because Nigel has given us wonderfully entertaining vignettes of action, which is where the Ensemble come into their own. The music that accompanies the scene changes work so well, adding to the entertainment value.

Stage Manged by John Woolley and Brian Hartshorn, who kept the pace flowing perfectly.

The main prop, the park bench, is not the only prop, and surprisingly the prop count was more than I'd thought there may be. Sourced by Angela Barradell and Regina Repton.

Costumes by Patricia Church and The Watson Players.

Sound design and operation is by John Woolley and lighting design and operation is by Lee Hartshorn. Perfection in both areas.

This is one of those plays that I could watch over and over, mainly for the wonderful way it's been written, as well as the excellent casting and naturalistic performances by the cast. A real treat on every level.

"The Park Bench" is being performed at Shakespeare House, Kedleston Road, Derby until Saturday 13 June.

Photography by Ali Langton.