Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Kathryn Beaumont, Joshua Hayes, Sally Hodgkiss, Adam Search.
From 18th century novels through to turn of the last century and the black and white kitchen sink dramas produced after the war and on to stereotyped and cliché ridden mass produced television, the idea of the north is one that can be hard to dispel, to make some of those that live in alleged splendour somewhere past the Watford Gap. Not all is grim up north and the harshness that is fostered upon the area is usually one that is made by those who are jealous of the rich tapestry of life that the northern half of England holds dear.
As Northern Spirit, in the four writers of the short plays which have been superbly pieced together and in the great cast and direction by Chris Meads prove in their exceptional production, A Wondrous Place, shows the north to be one that is just like the rest of the U.K. with its ups and downs and pain and resilience and in the end the lives of those in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle are just as valid as those in Brighton, Salisbury, Dover and London.
The four pieces, written by Alison Carr, Luke Barnes, Matt Hartley and Sarah McDonald Hughes, were lively, spirited, full of life and yet with that absolute nod to the places that inspired the writers that gave it the reality and authenticity that made the performance just exquisite, so powerful and attention grabbing.
A Wondrous Place is one of those plays that relies on absolute teamwork, whether from the writers, the background crew and director, for which to have one of the finest young directors in Chris Meads come back to the city was a huge plus and from the actors who were a dream to watch as they captured what it means to be northern, to have that sense of belonging to a bigger aspiration and fight against the tired thoughts of those that have never thought to take in the history that at one point was the backbone of what drove England forward.
As the title suggests the north is really wondrous, a place of hope, beauty, despair and glory. The history and the people make it so. The harshness of the moors of Wuthering Heights is as foreign to this new look at the north as programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex is to the south.
Ian D. Hall