Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Shobna Gulati, Joe McGann.

Paris is the city of many dreams, it whispers across the Channel and throughout Europe like a tempting lover, slowly cocking its finger, begging that you come armed with flowers and an open mind. Together with knowing full well that the first time you lay eyes on sights such as Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, the magnificence of the Eiffel Tower and the haunting gothic nature of Notre-Dame, Paris will capture the heart and have you professing love, even if the word is an alien as the thought of not having the stomach to try the gastronomic delights on offer in April in Paris.

The British though have a reputation abroad, perhaps arguably in many respects well deserved, of only wanting to sample the delights of culture as they approach a certain age, till then the lure of sand, sea and sunshine fixes the imagination and begs a different type of question of the holidaymaker across the Channel.

In John Godber’s wonderfully observed play April In Paris, the twin aspects of British reservation and down-trodden resignation goes hand in hand with the bountiful surprise that awaits anybody who opens their mind and sips their toe into a world in which at its core the British are truly enamoured by. For an island race, the British can be so reserved, so much so that you expect a polite note to be placed on every city street suggesting that sentiment and for Bet and Al, a couple on the verge of self-destruction after many years of marriage and with no more family distractions to take their mind off the growing gap between them, a night in Paris can mean the difference between thoughts of murder to break up the monotony and the spark of inspiration that all humanity needs to get through life.

With a set superbly split over two halves, the spartan almost claustrophobic feel of the first act, to the open fulsome aspect of a welcoming city in the second, both Joe McGann and the marvellous Shobna Gulati showed exactly why their comic timing is so highly rated. Their respective turn of phrase caressed John Godber’s words like a Michelin rated chef teasing the icing delicately over a cake fit for Presidents and their timing complemented each other in such a way that in many respects it showed exactly why it takes such dedication to the script to carry off the feeling of genuine appeal.

There is nothing like Paris to reignite the passion for life, for many their love of Paris in the springtime is only matched by the thought of breakfast in America, however April In Paris surely should be the highlight of anybody with a song in their heart and a joy for the finer things in life.

Ian D. Hall