Feast for the senses

Mixed Up North
Wilton’s Music Hall

Letting in Air
Old Red Lion

At the Old Red Lion, another slice of gritty northern realism. Becky Prestwich’s new play opens with the news that Adam’s mother has killed herself. Frank, his dad, fills the gap by striking up a rather improbable friendship with a demented waif called Amy, who spouts endearing gibberish the whole time. Adam’s girlfriend tries to knit these damaged misfits together while the true circumstances of the mother’s suicide emerge. Put like that it all sounds very complicated, silly and contrived. But this is a wonderful small play.

Once the elements are set in place the story takes on its own momentum and develops into a highly rewarding exploration of the emotional cost of censoring family secrets. Rebecca Elliot plays the verbally burbling Amy with truth and compassion, allowing the laughs to emerge of their own accord. The girlfriend, Olivia, is played by Tessa Mabbitt, a fabulous tangle-haired brunette who looks as if she’s just stepped out of a Pompeii mosaic. A talent well worth watching. A few decades ago we used to enjoy one-off plays like this every Wednesday on the BBC. Nowadays the search for original drama forces us to brave the knife-torn alleys of north London. Still, the BBC’s loss is the mugger’s gain.