Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Clifford Hume, Emma Ley, Karl Best.

There is a theatre of mystery that dogs human existence, we seem to fail to understand the connection we have to each and every person on the planet, we are so concerned with our own sense of self that we neglect the silence of a child and put it down to wilful disobedience, we forget those who raise us until the moment they are gone from our lives and we are ignorant to those who don’t scream and shout when the world has taken a bad turn, we believe that just because they aren’t complaining that they can take the misery and misfortune levelled at their soul.

It doesn’t matter that we are not related by so called blood, each person is capable of feeling the empathy needed to save someone’s moment, their day, or even their life, the mystery is that we fail to see why a certain person has walked into our lives at that same precise moment when the chips are so far down that have reverted back to their potato form and are covered in the darkness of the soil.

In David Armstrong’s Heaven Sent, the simple act of reaching out to the silent and in pain is framed as it should be, as an offering from a greater purpose to see that life is sacrosanct, worthy, no matter what ill has befallen, no matter the grief, life should be there to help others in need, it what defines us a society, a person that we can see beyond our own troubles and take someone else hand, even for a minute, as they come to terms with their own resolution.

The plays asks the question of what you would do if you saw somebody in pain but didn’t know why you were the one to help them, to possibly save them, a question that many will never have given much thought about! It is a pertinent question for our times, one that isn’t without the irony of humour which can act as a guide in such circumstances, even a small smile is a victory when the human soul is under pressure.

With Clifford Hume giving a stirring performance as the man chosen to save a person’s life and Emma Ley displaying heartfelt tenderness in her decision, Heaven Sent is a great addition to The Bench trilogy of plays that catch the emotions with a squareness of decency, that feed the point of caring whilst having the chance to enjoy the positive nature if humour to its fullest extent. A wonderful half hour of theatre, one with a superb strong sense of identity mixed in.

Ian D. Hall