Gritty and compelling

All The Way Home, Library Theatre Company, Lowry.
SALFORD runs through the heart of the newest production from popular East is East writer Ayub Khan-Din.

Not only was this world premiere held at the Lowry — in Salford — but the city is also the setting of the family-based drama.

Award-winning playwright Khan-Din, born into a large British-Pakistani family, was inspired to write the play after his relatives gathered to mourn the impending death of his elder brother.

But the play isn’t a downcast, mournful view of the world; it captures the intricacies of family life and complex relationships, switching from comedy to cruelty in a heartbeat.

The action takes place in the kitchen of a run-down terrace in the middle of a newly-regenerating Salford as five brothers an sisters return home as eldest Frankie is dying of cancer.

Middle sister Janet tries to keep the peace between Sonia, a former drug-addict, and Carol, who lives in leafy Didsbury.

Youngest brother Phillip has a simple view on life, and all are waiting for the return of middle brother Brian, a successful photographer in London.

Throw in meddling Auntie Sheila and her chavvy daughter Samantha and you have a recipe for family feuds, underlying resentment and comedy in the darkest of hours.

The language of the play is often foul, gritty and cutting as the characters dissect their lives and that of their siblings, but it is always honest - hilariously so - and utterly compelling.

The action switches from screaming stand-up rows to silent scenes, which are both moving and revealing.

Frankie, the invisible head of the family, is represented in most scenes via a clown-faced baby monitor which captures his arduous breathing as the time rolls closer.

But he comes to life through the past experiences and memories of his family members, whether it is squabbles over what final care he should have or how he reacted to past loves.

A family roast dinner with all the cast sitting at the table is a brief moment of calm between the warring clan - but that soon disintegrates as family truths come out.

The cast comprises of a familiar faces from the small screen including former Coronation Street actors Paul Simpson, Kate Anthony, Sean Gallagher and Naomi Radcliffe, as well as actors Susan Cookson and James Foster.

Julie Riley, as hard-faced Sonia, brings a gritty but vulnerable portrayal of her troubled sister, wanting to do the right thing for Frankie after missing her own mother's funeral.

And Judith Barker, as Auntie Sheila, is excellent as the matriarch who thinks she knows best for her sister's children.

But all the characters are fully rounded and a joy to watch.

The play, directed by Mark Babych, is brilliantly written and brilliantly acted and, while focusing on one family's struggle, brings our own families into sharp focus.